Applications for KSAS research awards are due in the academic year preceding the grant-funded research period. In other words, if you intend to do an independent research project in your senior year, you apply for funding in your junior year. For all grants except the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, funds must be spent by the end of the spring semester of the award year. Woodrow Wilson Fellowships cover three years of research and must be spent before graduation.
The application requirements are identical for all one-year URSCA research awards. However, Woodrow Wilson Fellowships follow a different timeline and have a different application link.
Pre-Application
All URSCA research grants, including the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, require a pre-application, which must include:
- A personal statement (100 words) addressing your interest in conducting this research.
- Note: for the Meg Walsh Award, a leadership statement (1200 words) is also required.
- A draft abstract (150-200 words) summarizing your project, including:
- The topic to be explored
- Your qualifications for conducting the research
- Your timeline for completion of the project
- Expected outcome of the project (honors thesis, etc.)
- A budget outline estimating the total amount of funding needed and a basic breakdown of costs
- The names of one to three potential faculty mentors for your project (you do not need to have asked them to mentor you yet)
You must also review the Homewood IRB guidelines prior to submitting your pre-application.
The deadline for pre-applications for all one-year URSCA research awards is October 23, 2023.
Wilson Fellowship pre-applications are due December 11, 2023.
Final Application
Following submission of your pre-application, you will receive feedback from URSCA staff. You will then submit your final application, which will be reviewed by a panel of URSCA staff and Krieger faculty. The final application must include:
- A revised abstract (150-200 words)
- A full project proposal (4-6 pages, double-spaced, uploaded as a PDF), to include:
- Title
- Background (introduction to topic)
- Problem/question (issues you want to address; your research question)
- Literature review (brief overview of trends in the scholarly conversation, identification of gaps in the research)
- Goals (anticipated outcomes of the project, project’s future value)
- Methods (materials, approaches, frameworks, engagement with current scholarship)
- References (maximum 5 works cited)
- Detailed budget using the URSCA budget template
- Note: any figures included should be within the 6-page limit and may be embedded within the text or appended to the end and labeled accordingly.
- The name of your faculty research mentor
- Your mentor should be a Johns Hopkins professor who will be available throughout the term of your award and who will be able to guide and direct your research project. Mentors do not have to be housed in Krieger; they may come from the Whiting School of Engineering, the hospital/medical school, Peabody, or any other Hopkins entity.
- Your curriculum vitae (CV)
- Student Affairs is available to help with Guidelines and example here. You can also make an appointment at the Life Design Lab for additional support.
- Your unofficial transcripts, available through SIS.
- Click on “My Grades” and then “View Official Transcript.”
- One letter of recommendation from a faculty member, which should address:
- How long and in what capacity the recommender has known you
- Your academic strengths
- Your ability to conduct independent research
- Note: for the Meg Walsh Award, two letters are required
The deadline for final applications for all one-year URSCA research awards is November 27, 2023.
Wilson Fellowship final applications are due January 22, 2024.
Award Notification
Notification of one-year URSCA research awards will be made on January 8, 2024.
Notification of Woodrow Wilson Fellowships will be made on February 19, 2024.
All new awardees will be invited to a grant orientation in spring 2024.