GEM Fellowship Benefits?

[Anonymous Dino]

I just got accepted to be an Employer Fellow at GEM for a PhD. Neat 😅. However, reading the terms and “benefits” I have to ask: How would I benefit from accepting the GEM fellowship (for PhD specifically)?

I understand that money isn’t everything, but 💰 I want to focus primarily on financials 💰, since I already have excellent mentors, so I wouldn’t make use of additional mentorship. In fact, I would find it distracting to have to report to more programs.

It seems that being a selected employer fellow ensures you will have a funded tuition and that you will receive a stipend of at least 16 thousand dollars. However, PhD programs already tend to have funded tuition and (in STEM at least) stipends I’ve seen (and received 😄) exceed 16 thousand a year. Furthermore, GEM does not exempt you from TA/RA duties, so it’s exactly the same funding package you would receive without GEM (I confirmed at the webinar that even though GEM uses the word “stacks” regarding other fellowships, we GEM applicants would NOT receive any of the stipend, and instead, it only goes to the university to subsidize the cost to the university).

Therefore: what do we get out of GEM? Assuming I could get the internship on my own, I’m worried that the fellowship just means more strings attached on the money I would have received anyways. Thanks, and I’m grateful to your perspective and insight in advance 😄.