Student
Research at Sewanee
Collaborative research and scholarship is a fundamental activity for students and faculty at this institution. Students who will be traveling to conferences to present their research or scholarship may request funds here. Once approved, requests for reimbursement may be submitted here. Questions may be sent to the Director of Undergraduate Research.
Sewanee considers funding for unpaid internships, fellowships, and assistantships for students to be a top priority. If a Sewanee student is offered an unpaid research assistantship, they can apply for funding from Sewanee. To see the extensive list of past summer research assistantships that were funded by Sewanee, scroll down the list and look for the heading "Research Assistantships" for each year.
In addition, students can apply for funding through fellowships to do social science research during the summer through the Biehl International Research Fellowship. This research fellowship for students interested in conducting an independent social science research project outside of the United States that provides a challenging or broadening immersive experience, whether through language, culture, or environment. Only Sewanee students who are pursuing a major or minor in a social science are eligible to apply. Students design their own research topic; projects should facilitate substantial contact with the society to be studied and should be focused in one area, or a few closely-related locales, rather than several sites. Upon their return in the Advent Semester, each recipient will be required to write a research paper under faculty supervision and to present a public talk on his or her study.
Another research fellowship for Sewanee students only is the Gessell Fellowship in Social Ethics. It offers funds to enable an independent research project in social theory or social ethics. The project may be an academic research paper or field experience. Projects with a local focus are particularly encouraged. The award recipient will complete the project during the course of the academic year, and will submit a final paper and give a public presentation on their research topic to the Sewanee community in April. Awards alternate yearly between students from the College (odd years) and the School of Theology (even years.)
External Academic Fellowships
Beyond Sewanee
- ACA- The Ledford Scholarship offers financial assistance for summer research in the fields of laboratory and field work, interviews, analyzing special collections, participant observation and other. For more information click here.
- NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)--These opportunities exist in almost all NSF supported fields at universities around the country to find out more about these opportunities go here
- DADD RISE program--Travel to a German University or Institute and get paid to do research for the summer; more information here
- DOE programs--There are several programs sponsored by the DOE including the SULI (Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship) and the DOE Scholars Program.
- DHS programs--Department of Homeland Security offers summer research internships at labs across the country
Resources for Students Pursuing Advanced Degrees
The Council on Undergraduate Research recently hosted a webinar on applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. A transcript of the webinar with Powerpoint slides can be found here (email Rob Bachman for the passcode) and answers to additional questions asked during the webinar can be found here. You may also find Dr. Robin Walker’s (the webinar speaker) website, GRFP Essay Insights or the LinkedIn group dedicated to the GRFP useful.
Another resource of potential interest is the blog GradHacker on InsideHigherEd.com. This blog deals with graduate school life and career planning generally and recently ran a series of articles about applying for fellowships and such.