General information
This grant recognizes excellent research proposals and enables L&S Honors Program students to undertake more demanding and extensive senior Honors thesis research projects than might otherwise be possible. Funds can cover the expendable supplies, travel expenses, and related costs needed to complete the research. For example, grant recipients may travel to archives or research sites or initiate other research activities that require special funding. Grant funding can also support students who forgo other work or paid opportunities to complete otherwise uncompensated research.
*Additional funding may be available through the Bromley Conference Travel Grant.
Quick facts:
- The standard award is $1500 in scholarship funds.
- This award is currently processed as a scholarship. Students receiving scholarships may have financial aid package adjustments. If you have questions about your financial aid and/or the potential impact of receiving this scholarship, please get in touch with L&S Honors Program Administrator Kendra Ramthun (honorsprogram@honors.ls.wisc.edu).
- Grant recipients will be expected to:
- Present their research at the Honors Senior Thesis Symposium in the spring
- Submit a copy of their completed thesis to the L&S Honors Program
Eligibility
You can apply for a Trewartha grant if you meet the following criteria:
- You are currently declared as a L&S Honors Program student
- You plan to graduate with an Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, or Comprehensive Honors degree in May of the current academic year or earlier
- Your cumulative GPA is at least 3.0 (Most awardees have GPAs of 3.3 or higher)
- You are enrolled in a Senior Honor Thesis Directed Study (usually 681 or 682) in your major department at the time of application
Conditions
Students who receive funding from the L&S Honors Program for their thesis research should submit a PDF copy of their completed thesis to the Honors Program Office.
Students who receive funding from the L&S Honors Program for their thesis research should register to present at the annual Senior Honors Thesis Symposium.
In most cases, you may not receive this funding if your thesis has been or will be supported by another university undergraduate research grant during the same award period. Students may only receive this award one time. Please contact honorsprogram@honors.ls.wisc.edu with questions about funding.
Students may not receive one of the Summer Senior Honors Thesis Research Grants (including the Popkin and Mensink) and the Trewartha Undergraduate Research Award.
Application
The Trewartha grant application can be found on the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH). You can access WiSH through your MyUW or by logging in at wisc.academicworks.com.
The application requires you to submit the following:
- Answers to questions about your thesis and student status
- A PDF document (maximum four single-spaced pages) that describes your thesis project and follows the following structure:
- Project title
- An abstract of the proposed research (200 words or less, may be single-spaced)
- This may include the research problem (goal, aim, purpose, etc)
- You may consider writing this with an interdisciplinary audience in mind. The Faculty Honors Committee is composed of faculty, staff, and students from diverse fields and may not have technical knowledge of your field.
- A description and explanation of your previous experience and background relating to the proposed research.
- This section provides you an opportunity to speak to your capacity to complete your project at a high level given your contextual experience.
- What procedure(s) or approach(es) will you use (methodology, experimental design, etc.) and/or what variables do you plan to evaluate?
- Your thesis advisor’s contact information, so that the advisor can submit a letter of recommendation to support your application.
- The application is not complete until the letter of recommendation is received.
- Please notify your thesis advisor as soon as possible that you will be requesting a letter of support, and be sure to save their contact information in the application well in advance of the deadline.
- When you save your thesis advisor’s information in the application, they will receive a link to complete the recommendation through the application system.
- Your UW-Madison student transcript (submit a current official or unofficial transcript as an attachment through wisc.academicworks.com
Evaluation
Trewartha grant recipients are chosen 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 degree(s)
- Strength, rigor, and clarity of your proposal and of the Honors Senior Thesis research project to be funded
Deadline
The Fall 2024 application is now open. You can access the application on WiSH. Applications will be due by Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 11:59 PM.
More information
If you have additional questions about the Trewartha grant, please contact the Honors Program office at honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu.