These students also receive a full tuition scholarship. In subsequent years, after the student has joined a research group funding will be provided through a research assistantship. This allows for full time research effort, and the faculty advisor will assign a project and provide for the necessary facilities to perform the project. A full tuition scholarship is also awarded in these cases. In those cases, where the research group does not have funding the student will continue to be supported on a teaching assistant position.
Funding is generally available for four years, assuming satisfactory progress toward the degree.
A fifth year of funding can be obtained based on availability. The department offers a number of graduate courses for students who wish to broaden their training into new areas. Several of these are available over the Internet. These can be taken on a non-matriculated basis, so a student can decide later whether to ask for admission to the degree program.