What are the Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grants?
These grants enable students to undertake more demanding and extensive senior thesis research projects than might otherwise be possible. Besides recognition of an excellent thesis proposal, grant recipients are awarded a stipend of $3000. Such resources may enable students to travel to archives or research sites, arrange participant interviews or initiate other research activities that require special funding. All students who receive an Honors Senior Thesis Summer Research Grant will be asked to submit a copy of their completed thesis to the L&S Honors Program.
Applicants to the Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant will also be considered for the Mark Mensink Senior Honors Thesis Grant and the Barry Popkin Senior Honors Thesis Grant.
Who is eligible to apply?
You can apply for an Honors Summer Senior Thesis Summer Research Grant if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a currently enrolled L&S Honors Student (HLA, HM, or Comprehensive Honors) who plans to graduate with the Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, or Comprehensive Honors degree in May (or August) of the following academic year, or earlier.
- You will complete a two-semester Senior Honors Thesis sequence by May of the following academic year, or earlier.
- Your cumulative GPA is at least 3.0 (Most awardees have GPAs of 3.3 or higher)
What are the restrictions?
You must not plan to register for summer courses that do not directly relate to your thesis research during the summer session. If you wish to do so, you must obtain permission from the Honors Program director (director@honors.ls.wisc.edu).
Please note that in most cases you may not receive an Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant if your thesis has been or will be supported by another university undergraduate research grant during the same award period (e.g., the Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship, the Hughes Grant or the Trewartha Grant). Students may only be awarded a Summer Senior Honors Thesis award one time (this includes the Mensink and Popkin).
How are recipients chosen?
Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant recipients are selected by members of the L&S Faculty Honors Committee. They will evaluate your application based on the following:
- Strength of academic record
- Progress towards completing your Honors in the Major or Comprehensive Honors degree(s)
- Strength, rigor, and clarity of your proposal and of the Senior Honors Thesis research project to be funded
- Cumulative GPA
What is the application process?
The application will be available in WiSH on Sunday, December 15. Please login with your UW credentials.
The following materials (all submitted through WiSH) must be submitted online:
- Project proposal* of no more than five double-spaced pages with at least 1 inch margins, and no smaller than 11pt font. The abstract and references are included in the 5-page limit, and the proposal should follow disciplinary guidelines and use headers appropriate to the field. If you are uncertain about how to format your proposal, talk to your project advisor. All proposals should contain the following:
- Project title
- An abstract of the proposed research
- State the major question to be investigated.
- What is the research problem (goal, aim, purpose, etc)?
- A methods section describing what procedure(s) or approach(es) you will use (methodology, experimental design, etc.) and/or what variables you plan to evaluate
- A previous experience statement, describing and explaining your previous experience and background relating to the proposed research.
- References (may be single-spaced)
- One (1) letter of recommendation from your Honors Senior Thesis advisor to support your application
- Your official or unofficial transcript
*Note: Remember that the Faculty Honors Committee members reviewing your application may be from outside your academic field and therefore unfamiliar with the specialized terminology of your discipline.
When is the application due?
The application will open on Sunday, December 15, 2024, and will close at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
If you have additional questions about the Honors Senior Thesis Summer Grant award, please contact the Honors Program at honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu.