URSCA > Woodrow Wilson Fellowship > Apply

Eligibility

All KSAS first-year students (rising sophomores) are invited to apply to the Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. Approximately 10 fellows will be chosen each year. Woodrow Wilson Fellows receive $10,000 of funding to cover three years of research, stretching from the summer after their first year to their graduation date. 

Strong candidates for this award will demonstrate an active interest in conducting their own research. The selection of Wilson Fellows is based on academic merit and the strength of the applicant’s proposal for an independent project or projects. Awards are given out across all majors, and projects range from lab investigations to film productions, creative writing to exhibition curation. Interdisciplinary work is highly valued, but projects should also tie into a student’s major(s) so that they are well trained to pursue the project. 

All fellows must remain KSAS majors throughout their participation in the program because the program was established by a generous donation to the dean of the Krieger School. However, fellows are encouraged to conduct interdisciplinary research within other divisions at Johns Hopkins, and mentors do not need to be KSAS faculty members. 

Application Process

There are five steps to the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship application:

  1. Fall semester: prepare to apply. Attend a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship info session, review our tips for getting started, brainstorm research topics, talk to potential faculty mentors, and/or attend Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Drop-In Hours.
  2. December 6, 2024: Submit a pre-application (details below).
  3. Intersession: Apply feedback. Revise your application materials, attend additional drop-in hours and workshops, identify your faculty mentor, and secure a letter of recommendation.
  4. January 21, 2025: Submit your final application (details below).
  5. February 12, 2025: Finalists will be invited to interview with URSCA staff.

Notification of fellowships will be made on February 21, 2025. New fellows will be invited to attend a fellowship orientation in the spring semester.

Pre-Application

The first phase of applying for an URSCA research grant is the pre-application, which gives you an opportunity to receive feedback and guidance on your project idea before you submit your final proposal. The pre-application is not evaluated or scored, and can only help your final application.

The pre-application is a required step in the application process for the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. You may not submit a final application without first submitting a pre-application by the stated deadline.

The pre-application, due at the end of the fall semester, must include:

  1. A personal statement (100 words) addressing your interest in conducting this research
  2. A draft abstract (150-200 words) summarizing your project
  3. 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 the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship is December 6, 2024.

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:

  1. A revised abstract (150-200 words)
  2. 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
  3. The name of your faculty research mentor, if known
    • 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. 
  4. Your Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    • Please see our Getting Started page for guidelines on developing your CV. You can also make an appointment at the Life Design Lab for additional support.
  5. Your unofficial transcripts, available through SIS
    • Click on “My Grades” and then “View Transcript”
  6. 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

Additional guidelines for putting together your application can be found on our Getting Started page.

The deadline for final applications for the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship is January 21, 2025.

Apply for a Wilson Fellowship

Award Notification

Notification of Woodrow Wilson Fellowships will be made on February 21, 2025.

All new fellows will be required to attend a fellowship orientation in spring 2025.