Society of Scholars Graduate Fellowships

Eligibility

UW doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy by the time they submit their application and who will receive no other funding during the term of the award. 

Description

The Society of Scholars supports dissertating doctoral students in pursuing their research and sharing their individual projects-in-progress in the multidisciplinary, bi-weekly forum of the fellowship cohort—which typically is composed of eight to nine tenure-track faculty members, at all ranks, and three dissertating doctoral students—over the course of the academic year.

The program also supports an additional cohort of six dissertating doctoral students each summer.  

Applications will be reviewed by the Simpson Center Executive Board. 

Criteria

Awards will be based on the scholarly merit of the individual applications. Scholarship likely to contribute to intellectual exchange among a diverse group of colleagues is especially encouraged.

To assess scholarly merit, we draw on criteria used by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) for the evaluation of fellowship proposals:

• The intellectual significance of the proposed project; the potential of the project to advance the field or fields of study in which it is proposed and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
• The quality and innovativeness of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature.
• The clarity of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project.

Terms of Award

Students may only hold one fellowship within the Society of Scholars program during their graduate career at UW. For instance, a student could hold an academic year fellowship or a summer fellowship but not both.

Academic Year Program

• Graduate research fellows of the Society of Scholars receive three quarters of support, including benefits and tuition waivers.
• Research Funds. Each fellow in the Society of Scholars program during the academic year receives a $1,500 research budget, administered through a reimbursement process.
• Residency Requirement. In-person participation in the biweekly Society of Scholars means that this fellowship is not appropriate for those whose projects require time away from the university or those who are unable to meet on the designated time throughout the academic year. 
• Doctoral Student Status. To be eligible for this program, you must be a doctoral student who will not defend their dissertation prior to May 1, 2027. This eligibility requirement aims to ensure that fellows are actively working on their dissertations during the three quarters of the fellowship. If an awardee's plans change and they schedule their defense for prior to May 1, 2027, they must notify the Simpson Center.

Summer Program

• Graduate research fellows of the Summer Society of Scholars receive an award of $10,000, with no benefits or tuition. The explicit intent of this support is to allow fellows to devote themselves full time to their projects during the fellowship term.
• Summer Residency Requirement. In-person participation in the meetings of the fellowship cohort is an expectation of the program. This fellowship is not appropriate for those whose projects require time away from the university during the period when the fellowship meetings take place and those who are unable to meet on the designated dates and times. In Summer 2027, the meetings are anticipated to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays in July, from 10:30-12:00pm.
• Doctoral Student Status. To be eligible for this program, you must be a doctoral student who will not defend their dissertation prior to August 15, 2027. This eligibility requirement aims to ensure that fellows are actively working on their dissertations during the period of the cohort meetings in July. If an awardee's plans change and they schedule their defense for prior to August 15, 2027, they must notify the Simpson Center so the fellowship award can be given to an alternate.
• Payment. Students are not required to be enrolled during the summer of 2027 to participate in this program. Payments will be processed through Workday for a payment date of July 25. Any tax withholdings an awardee has signed up for will be applied against the payment. We encourage foreign national students to ensure any applicable tax treaties have been submitted (for guidance on this process, please contact Simpson Center Administrator Julie Tarr-Stoverink at julieis@uw.edu).