Fall and Spring Semester Funding
Gregory S. Call Student Research Fund
Support for student term-time thesis research is available for Amherst College seniors for up to $1,000 in the form of grants from the Gregory S. Call Student Research Fund; the Nicholas Curtis Heaney Memorial Fund, which provides support for honors thesis research that is intended to broaden the student's personal and cultural horizons; the Doelling Undergraduate Research Fund, which supports undergraduates engaged in performing scientific research in biological/life sciences under the guidance of a faculty member; the Linden Family Fund, which provides support for students engaged in research projects, with a preference for thesis work in History; and the Wolansky Family Research Fund, which provides support for students engaged in thesis research, with a preference for projects in American studies, history, political science, or English.
Application deadlines are November 30 (for students submitting funding requests for Fall term) and February 24 (for students requesting funds in Spring). Applications are awarded on an on-going basis throughout the semester up until the deadline. In the student application process, the student must provide 1) a proposal requesting funds and how the funding relates to their research 2) a detailed budget listing the items and their costs for which funding is requested, and 3) their Amherst College faculty sponsor/research advisor's name and email address. An email will be sent automatically to the professor asking for a letter of recommendation. The application will not be considered for an award until all of these components have been received. Due to the high volume of requests, please know that students who request funds to attend a conference will be considered only if they are presenting their research at the conference. For the College’s travel policy and guidelines for college-sponsored programs, please check the Office of Global Education's travel policy and resources website. Please review the Reimbursement Policy for Student Research Grant Expenses, if applicable.
Students whose projects involve international travel must include with their proposal a signed International Travel Waiver of Liability. If students are under 18 years old, both they and their parents must sign the waiver. International travelers must also submit a signed statement that they have registered their trip with the Amherst College Travel Registry. For additional information, please see the Travel Policy for College-Sponsored Programs, the AIG/Travel Guard Program, and the Office of Global Education's information on Health and Emergency Medical Assistance.
The Alpha Delta Phi Fund and the David P. Patchel Memorial Fund
Support for senior projects is available in the form of grants from the Alpha Delta Phi Fund and the David P. Patchel Memorial Fund. The Alpha Delta Phi Fund is designed to support senior essay writing, special topics, and other comparable independent projects. All seniors in the humanities and social sciences may submit an application, but first priority is reserved for English majors and others working in literary studies, creative writing, theater and dance, or film. Monies from the David P. Patchel Memorial Fund can be used for senior projects having to do with the moving image specifically, whether essays, theses, or production projects. Awards are intended for seniors who are working on projects that are integral to their coursework or are part of independent study for credit that is supervised and evaluated by a faculty member.
The Alpha Delta Phi Fund and the David P. Patchel Memorial Fund may be used to subsidize a variety of activities such as: purchase or rental of equipment, supplies, or materials; short-term travel funds for research purposes; and funds to defray the costs of interviews. Students are expected to absorb normal costs for their work. These grants are for expenses over and above the purchase of books and routine supplies equivalent to the usual costs of a regular course. Grants generally do not exceed $1,200, however, domestic travel grants may be awarded up to $1,500 and international travel grants may be awarded up to $2,000. Students who receive the maximum amount of funding in one semester may only reapply for additional funding in exceptional circumstances. Application deadlines are October 12 (for the fall term) and February 22 (for the spring term).
Students whose projects involve international travel must include with their proposal a signed International Travel Waiver of Liability. If students are under 18 years old, both they and their parents must sign the waiver. Students must register their trip with the Amherst College Travel Registry. For additional information, please see the Travel Policy for College-Sponsored Programs, the AIG/Travel Guard Program, and the Office of Global Education's information on Health and Emergency Medical Assistance.
Summer Funding
Schupf Fellows Program
Schupf Fellows engage in intensive research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences over the summer months. Through the generosity of H. Axel Schupf ’57, a cohort of twenty rising Amherst sophomores and juniors is funded each year through a competitive selection process to participate in eight weeks of summer research on campus with a faculty member.
Schupf Fellows focus on their own research project, under the guidance of a faculty mentor; work on a project related to a faculty member's research; or conduct collaborative research with a group of students, under the guidance of a faculty member. Fellows also take part in programming that has been designed to help them make progress on their near- and long-term academic, professional, and personal goals. Students present their work to the campus community in early September, following each summer’s research. A decision about participation for a second summer will be based on a student demonstrating satisfactory progress, and submitting a report at the end of the first summer. Faculty mentor students throughout the course of the fellowship.
Fellows receive a research stipend of up to $4,880. (Student compensation is based on hours reported, but it is expected that fellows will work forty hours a week for eight weeks at a rate of $15.25 per hour.) Fellows are also provided with room and board on campus for eight weeks, beginning June 12. Additional funding may be available to fellows for supplies, archival work, and research-related travel. Decisions about permitting and funding such travel are based on college policies, which are subject to change.
The Schupf Fellows application will open on February 1, 2023, and applications must be submitted by March 1, 2023.
Applications to the program must outline a clearly defined project and have the strong support of the faculty member with whom the student will work. Ahead of submitting the application, students must contact a faculty member about serving as a mentor for the summer. Each student must have a mentor in place when applying to the program. Mentors are asked to write letters of support as part of the application process.
More information available here. Additional questions about the Schupf Fellows Program should be directed to Amelie Hastie, faculty director, or Nancy Ratner, coordinator of the Schupf Fellows Program.
Gregory S. Call Summer Student Research Program
This program supports summer research awards for rising seniors who are engaged in thesis work on campus and includes a stipend equivalent to $15.25 per hour for up to eight weeks of work (or up to $4,880), as well as on campus room and board. The application must briefly outline a clearly defined project and have the strong support of an Amherst College faculty member with whom the student will work directly.
The majority of the students who participate in the program are rising seniors doing preliminary research for their senior honors theses. The fellowships are available to students in all disciplines.
The applications for summer funding will open on February 1, 2023, and close on April 21, 2023.
Please note that if a student receives funding to conduct summer research, the student is not eligible for other Amherst College employment during that time period, including summer internship funding.
The Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship
This program provides an hourly wage of $15.25 for an eight-week period, up to a maximum of $4,880 to enable three students who have just graduated from Amherst to work on campus over the summer to turn their senior honors theses into publishable papers under the supervision of their thesis advisor; on-campus housing will not be available. (The thesis advisor receives an honorarium of $500 for this supervision.) Each department is asked to nominate one student who has produced a thesis recommended for summa-level honors that is judged to be potentially of publishable quality, and the winners are selected by a committee of deans from the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty.
Varmus International Fellows
The Harold Varmus 1961 Fund supports Amherst College students pursuing independent scholarly work, approved by an Amherst college faculty sponsor, in any field outside of the United States for a period of 10 weeks. Preference is given to rising seniors whose scholarly work will be used to support a thesis. Varmus Fellows must remain abroad at their place(s) of study for the duration of the fellowship. International students may not return to their home countries. The portal for the application opens on February 10, 2023, and closes on April 1, 2023. For more information about this fellowship, please contact Nancy Ratner.
Find more information about Student-Faculty Research.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 AIG TravelGuard info for international students.pdf | 1.15 MB |
| AIG TravelGuard info for domestic students.pdf | 1.15 MB |