L&S Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant
Overview
The L&S Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant enables students to undertake more demanding and extensive senior thesis research projects than might otherwise be possible by providing funding support during the summer to support work on a senior Honors thesis.
Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant recipients receive up to $3,000.
On this page
Application opens: December 15, 2025
Deadline: Sunday, April 5, 2026, 11:59 PM
Info sessions are typically offered in late fall and winter for students to learn more about the application process and to ask questions. See upcoming Honors information sessions.
Who Can Apply
- Must be a declared student in the L&S Honors Program pursuing Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, or the Comprehensive Honors track with an anticipated graduation date in May (or August) of the following academic year, or earlier
- Must plan to be enrolled in a Senior Honors Thesis Directed Study (typically 681 or 682) in your major department during the academic year following application
- Must have a minimum 3.3 cumulative GPA at the time of application
- Students may only receive one L&S Honors grant to support their senior Honors thesis project. This includes the Summer Senior Thesis Grant, Trewartha Research Grant, Mensink Research Scholarship, or Popkin Research Grant.
Note: If you plan to enroll in any academic courses during the summer, please review the relevant FAQ regarding summer course enrollment and grant eligibility below.
In addition, you may not receive this funding if your thesis has been, or will be, supported by another university undergraduate research grant during the same summer term. Students may only receive this award once.
Applicants to the L&S Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant will also be considered for the Mark Mensink Honors Research Scholarship and the Barry M. Popkin Senior Honors Thesis Research Grant.
A student may only receive one Honors grant or scholarship per funding term.
The application includes the following components:
- Questions about your academic background and goals.
- Proposal of no more than five single-spaced pages with at least 1-inch margins, and no smaller than 11pt font. This proposal must be submitted as a single PDF document. The proposal will include your project title, abstract, introduction, research methods, a description of the demand(s) of your project, and the potential impact of receiving funding. Click here to download an overview of the project proposal requirements.
- An unofficial UW-Madison transcript. For instructions on how to access your unofficial transcript, go to Request Unofficial Transcript.
- A letter of recommendation from your faculty mentor. Your mentor will submit this letter through the application within WiSH. The letter and application must both be submitted by the deadline for full consideration.
The L&S Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant application is available in the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH). You can access WiSH through your MyUW or by logging in at wisc.academicworks.com.
A letter of recommendation must be submitted by your faculty mentor. As soon as you begin drafting your application in WiSH, enter your mentor’s name and email address. This action will notify your mentor that a letter of recommendation is required. Begin your application as early as possible to allow your mentor time to write and submit their letter on your behalf.
Applicants typically hear whether they have been awarded a grant by the end of April.
Note: Applicant information will be shared between the L&S Honors Program and the Undergraduate Academic Awards Office to maximize funding opportunities for as many qualified students as possible. This collaborative practice supports the mission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the principles of the Wisconsin Experience.
Applications for this grant are reviewed by the Faculty Honors Committee. Applications are evaluated using the following criteria:
- Strength of your proposal and of the Honors Senior Thesis research project to be funded. Reviewers may consider specific aspects of your project, including but not limited to:
- Originality and initiative (extent to which the student played a role in developing the project)
- Project rigor (the extent to which it is deemed “demanding and extensive”)
- Funding impact
- Strength of academic record and preparation for the research project
- Progress towards completing your Honors track(s)
All recipients will need to:
- Present their research at the Senior Honors Thesis Symposium in the spring of the next academic year (mid- to late-April)
- Submit a copy of their completed thesis to the L&S Honors Program. With the student’s permission, the L&S Honors Program will then submit completed theses to MINDS@UW, the University of Wisconsin’s open access institutional repository. Click here to view recent senior Honors theses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Recipients must not enroll in senior Honors thesis credit during the summer term. If you plan to enroll in any academic coursework (at UW-Madison or any other higher education institution), please reach out to Pete Keys, Associate Director of Admissions and Engagement (pkeys@wisc.edu), and Dan Kapust, L&S Honors Program Director (director@honors.ls.wisc.edu), to schedule an appointment to discuss how you may be able to manage coursework in addition to your thesis work successfully.
This Summer Senior Thesis Grant is disbursed in the Summer Term as a research support payment. To be eligible to receive both the Summer Senior Thesis Grant and the Hilldale Fellowship, you must select “Academic Year” for your intended term for the Hilldale Fellowship. Students are not permitted to accept funds from another university (UW) source for the same research over the period of time covered by this grant.
A more demanding and extensive senior Honors thesis typically requires deeper intellectual engagement and a broader scope. This could mean the following, although this list is not exhaustive:
- Stronger Argumentation: Your thesis should present a nuanced, well-supported argument that goes beyond surface-level claims.
- Expanded Research: Your topic needs to draw from a wider range of credible sources, including scholarly literature, primary data, or interdisciplinary perspectives.
- Greater Originality: Aim to contribute fresh insights or challenge existing viewpoints, rather than simply summarizing others’ work.
- Increased Depth: Expect to explore complex ideas, engage with theoretical frameworks, and critically analyze multiple dimensions of your topic.
- Longer and More Structured: The final product may be more substantial in length and require a more sophisticated organizational structure.
In short, it’s about pushing your thinking further and demonstrating a higher level of academic rigor. Your faculty mentor(s) and department advisor(s) will be able to provide a great deal of experience and expertise. Please connect with them as soon as you are able!
The L&S Honors Program has recently partnered with UW Libraries to collect digital copies of senior Honors theses in the institutional repository, MINDS@UW. Please take a moment to review the recent submissions to the L&S Honors collection.
If you are unable to locate any theses in your specific field, we encourage you to connect with your major advisor(s) to learn more.
The funds are provided as a Research Support payment and are typically distributed in late May/early June. Funds are distributed through your Student Account, except for international students who receive funds via payroll. Recipients are encouraged to enroll in eRefund (direct deposit) for the quickest receipt of funds.
If you are an international student who is awarded this grant and you have not received a payment from UW-Madison previously, you will need to set up a Glacier account to confirm the proper disbursement method. Information will be provided at the time of grant acceptance.
Visit the Business Services website for additional information about student payments, and the Bursar’s Office website to enroll in eRefund.
Read more about Glacier accounts on the Human Resources website.
Please reach out to Associate Director of Admissions and Engagement, Pete Keys, at pkeys@wisc.edu.
Additional Resources
Attend an upcoming information session to learn more about Summer Senior Thesis Grants and other Honors funding opportunities.