Trewartha Senior Honors Thesis Research Award

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.

*Please note that additional funding may be available through the Bromley Conference Travel Grant.

Quick facts:

• Standard award is $1500
• 12-16 Trewartha grants typically awarded each year
• 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

In most cases, you may not receive a Trewartha grant for your research if your thesis has been or will be supported by another university undergraduate research grant for the same research over the same time period (e.g., the Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship or the Hughes Grant).

Submission

During the application period, the Trewartha grant application can be found through the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH). You can access WiSH through your MyUW or by logging in at wisc.academicworks.com.

• The scholarship system should match eligible students to the scholarship after they have completed the General Application.
• If you believe you are eligible, but cannot find the grant in WiSH during the application period, contact the Honors Program (honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu).

The application in WiSH requires you to submit the following:

• Answers to questions about your thesis and student status
• A 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)
  • What procedure(s) or approach(es) will you use (methodology, experimental design, etc.) and/or what variables do you plan to evaluate?
  • Describe and explain your previous experience and background relating to the proposed research.
• 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)
• An official or unofficial transcript

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

Timeline

Award status notifications will be e-mailed to applicants within 3-5 weeks of the application deadline.

More information

If you have additional questions about the Trewartha grant, please contact the Honors Program office at honors@honors.ls.wisc.edu. We also encourage students to attend one of the following informational sessions:

• Session 1: Tuesday, September 26 (Zoom)
• Session 2: Thursday, September 28 (Zoom)
• Session 3: Wednesday, October 4 (Zoom)