L&S Honors Summer Senior Thesis Research Grant

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.

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 in order 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:
  • Project demand and funding impact
  • Originality
  • Anticipated intellectual contribution of the project to the field
• 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.