The Weatherhead Center runs an annual competition to award 15 to 20 travel grants to support summer field research of Harvard undergraduates. These grants are designed to help finance travel in connection with senior thesis research on international affairs. All grant recipients become Undergraduate Associates of the Weatherhead Center for the year following their summer research and present their research findings at a conference organized by the Center in the spring of their senior year.

Preference is given to projects related to the core research areas of the Center, broadly defined to encompass international, transnational, and comparative topics (both contemporary and historical), including rigorous policy analysis as well as the study of countries and regions other than the United States.

Applicants must clarify how their research relates to the interests of the Center. Projects that are exclusively domestic (relating merely to characteristics internal to any single country) and that lack broader international implications will not be funded.

Student program funds come from the Williams/Lodge International Government and Public Affairs Research Fund, the Hartley R. Rogers family, the Weatherhead Foundation, the Maurice and Sarah Samuels family, and Weatherhead Center Advisory Committee Chair Adele S. Simmons. Rogers Family Research Grants provide funds for students who plan to conduct thesis research in Africa and the poorer countries of South and Southeast Asia. In addition to providing funds for the expenses of thesis research, Rogers Family Research Grant recipients who are on financial aid receive funds that substitute for the requirement of summer work earnings.

(Please see our information on the Center’s new grants for thesis research in Canada.)

Undergraduate Associates

All summer travel grant recipients become Undergraduate Associates of the Weatherhead Center for the academic year following their research abroad. The Center sponsors a series of undergraduate research workshops, which focus on different stages of the thesis, from choosing a topic to field research and writing text. Throughout the year, the Center hopes to engage Undergraduate Associates both formally at dinners with guest speakers and informally through contact with graduate students, Faculty Associates, and Fellows of the Center.

Awards and Benefits

Grants range from $1,500 to $6,000.

Who is Eligible?

Harvard College students, generally juniors, are eligible to seek summer funding for senior thesis research in international affairs. Most grants have been awarded to students in the social sciences (anthropology, economics, government, history, social studies, and sociology), but the Center has supported applications from students in other fields that meet the criteria outlined here.

Terms

Summer travel grants are designed to help finance foreign travel in connection with senior thesis research. Undergraduate Associates are expected to present their thesis research at a conference in the spring following their return.

How to Apply

The Weatherhead Center uses a common application form also used by many other centers. A PDF detailing the application process is forthcoming.

Deadline

February 12, 2010.