Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
Funding
Stipends
Academic Year (Fall and Spring semesters): Each fellow is awarded $3,600 over the academic year, in regular eight monthly payments from September through April. This stipend is intended to facilitate opportunities for scholars to engage in research with a faculty mentor, by alleviating or eliminating the need to engage in additional paid employment. In exchange for the stipend, the Mellon Foundation expects fellows to conduct research for several hours per week during the academic year. Both MMUF Programs at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges require Fellows to reserve certain hours every week for MMUF activities, which may include relevant academic talks and lectures, and events across the tri-co community and Penn, specific training workshops, and information sessions. These reserved hours per week are in addition to the one monthly meeting required of Fellows, as described above.
Summer Funding: The MMUF Program at Haverford offers summer funding, of up to $3,900, in each summer following admittance into the Program. The aim is to allow fellows to participate, for a minimum of six weeks, in a meaningful research, learning, or work experience that may be underpaid or even unpaid. In the first summer immediately after being admitted to the program, the summer stipend will apply to participation in the SRTP at the University of Chicago. For MMUF juniors, the fellows are required to confer with their mentors (and thesis advisors if applicable), as well as the Faculty Coordinator, for help in identifying or refining an area/project of intended study for the second summer as a Haverford MMUF fellow. Juniors are strongly encouraged to start this preparatory process as early as the winter break in their junior year. Summer Research proposals for junior fellows will be due by March 1 in their junior year.
With the support of their faculty mentor, fellows in the junior year are expected to design a summer internship or research experience that will enhance the MMUF research project/senior thesis experience, by allowing in-depth exploration and deeper understanding within the fellows’ fields of major study and research interest.
All fellows will submit a brief summer proposal (including a detailed budget) to the coordinator(s) and faculty mentor, by March 1 of their junior year. Funds, less $500, are awarded when the proposal has been approved. The final $500 will be awarded in September when the final report on the summer project is submitted. MMUF summer grant funds must be used for the purposes described in the proposal; unused funds must be accounted for. Changes in students' summer plans must be communicated promptly to program coordinators, and faculty mentors. MMUF summer grants may not be combined with any other fellowship or grant offered by the College, unless there are special circumstances.
Study Abroad
MMUF students are strongly encouraged to study abroad. During this stay abroad, they must maintain regular communication with their Faculty Mentor and MMUF Program Coordinators, at the home-institution.
Research and Conference/Workshop Travel Funds
While not guaranteed, travel funds may be available to support fellows' participation in academic conferences or to attend scholarly meetings that may expose students to ideas which expand their comprehension and insight of a research subject or career directions. Students who anticipate a need for travel expenses should contact the faculty coordinator (or program assistant) about the availability of funds and reimbursement procedures. Funds may also be available for participation in workshops or lab research projects at other universities and research institutes, as well as internships or externships conducted over the Fall, Winter, or Spring breaks, at think-tanks, in the govt. or private sector, as well as the non-profit sector.
Research/Travel Funding Request Form
Undergraduate Loan Repayment
Fellows are eligible for up to $10,000 for the repayment of undergraduate loans, provided they enroll in full-time graduate study.