The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs runs an annual competition to award 20 to 25 travel grants to support the summer field research of Harvard undergraduates. These grants, ranging from $500 to $5,000, 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 seminar organized by the Center in the spring of their senior year.

Summer Travel Grants are awarded to Harvard undergraduates who plan to conduct research on topics related to the core interests of the Weatherhead Center. This research focuses on international, transnational, global, and comparative national topics—that may be either contemporary or historical in nature—including the study of countries and regions other than the United States and the rigorous analysis of matters of public policy. Applicants should state explicitly how their research relates to these interests of the Center. Projects that are exclusively domestic—relating merely to characteristics internal to any single country, without broader international implications—will not be funded. Most grants in the past have been awarded to students in the social sciences (concentrators in Anthropology, Economics, Government, History, Social Studies, or Sociology), but the Center also supports applicants in other fields whose research meets its research priorities.

The Center will continue to offer Rogers Family Research Grants, which provide funds for students who plan to conduct thesis research in Africa and the poorer countries of South and Southeast Asia. Rogers grants may be as large as $5,000. In addition to providing funds for the expenses of thesis research, Rogers grants also provide recipients on financial aid with funds to substitute for summer work earnings requirements.

The Weatherhead Center is especially pleased to offer NEW thesis grants of up to $3,000 for the study of Canada to undergraduates who plan to study Canadian topics for at least half or more of the content of their research.

The Center will judge each proposal on the strength of its research design and methodology, the applicant’s preparation for the project, the demonstrated academic talent of the applicant, the feasibility of the project and the need for field research to fulfill its goals, and the relevance of the research to the interests of the Center. Applicants should be certain to give their recommenders a copy of their proposal to read before letters of recommendation are written.

As you begin to narrow your thesis topic and write your proposal, you will find it helpful to address these issues:

• What are you trying to explain? (What is your puzzle?)
• Have you made a thorough review of the available evidence, having spoken with professors or graduate students about recommended data or reading materials?
• On the basis of the evidence you have gathered thus far, what is your working hypothesis?
Why do require this grant to carry out your research, and what practical steps are you taking now regarding logistics and contacts? Why do you care about this topic? (You must care!)
• Have you thoroughly reworked and refined your proposal before its submission?

If you have questions, please contact Clare Putnam in the Weatherhead Center Fellowships Office, 1737 Cambridge Street, Room N221.

The application deadline is February 26, 2008.

Information and applications for Weatherhead Center Summer Travel Grants, as well as those funded by other international centers at Harvard, is available at the Office of Career Services Web site. Applicants are strongly encouraged to look at all possible sources of funding. They are listed in the Harvard College Funding Sources Database at Applicants for all Weatherhead Center thesis grants, including the Canada grants and the Rogers grants, should use the Common Application.