Resources for Students
Funding is available from the college to help support academic research and other pursuits. Whether seeking support for a summer research project, to attend a conference, or to work with a faculty mentor, all applications must include a student proposal and a faculty recommendation.
Summer Funding
Funding is available to support students who wish to pursue research opportunities, internships, intensive language study, independent projects, etc. during the summer months in each of the academic divisions (Arts & Humanities; Social Sciences; and Natural Sciences and Engineering; plus Interdisciplinary projects). The application process for these opportunities begins on the first day of the Spring semester and ends in mid-February; award notifications are sent in mid-March. Students interested in applying should begin developing their proposals in the Fall semester. Completed applications must include: a student proposal, a Swarthmore faculty recommendation, and an external recommendation (for projects that are not directly supervised by a Swarthmore faculty member). Students are encouraged to review the information on the Summer Opportunities and Research page, especially the Program Resources page for more information.
Please contact Corey Falls - cfalls1@swarthmore.edu - with any questions about Summer Funding.
Summer ROSEN TRAVEL FUND
Students participating in opportunities off-campus over the summer will be eligible to apply for additional funds for living expenses and travel through the Rosen Travel Fund. While the Rosen Fund is open to any student participating in a summer opportunity through any Swarthmore program (i.e. Lang Center, CIL, Academic Division, etc.), the fund is intended to remove barriers for low-income students to undertake their summer opportunities and provide additional funding for living expenses and travel to off-campus summer opportunities. The Provost's Office will choose recipients, and will notify you when/if you have been selected. Funds are limited, and are not guaranteed for everyone participating in an off-campus opportunity.
Please contact Corey Falls - cfalls1@swarthmore.edu - with questions about the Rosen Travel Fund.
Conference Funding
Students may seek funding to participate in academic conferences and other academic opportunities. It is the responsibility of the student to begin this process by seeking out a faculty member to support their application. The Provost's Office is now accepting conference funding applications for recently graduated students (May 2024 grads) who have completed their research at Swarthmore College with an on-campus faculty member. Recent grads must still have a Swarthmore faculty member support their application and include a permanent email address in lieu of their Swarthmore email.
To Apply for Funding:
- Students seeking this funding should reach out to a faculty member to solicit support for their application for funding for this opportunity.
- The faculty member is asked to complete a nomination form which will be electronically sent to an administrator for review. The nomination form is short, but will ask for the name of the opportunity (like a virtual conference), the link to the conference/opportunity (if available), and the amount of funding that the student will be seeking. Faculty members should complete this form five weeks ahead of the opportunity. Positive faculty support, via the nomination form, will then prompt the administrator to send the link to the funding application link to the student via email.
- Students should submit their funding application within seven days of receiving the email with the application link.
The application itself will ask which division best suits the students' request for funding. Below is a list of each department by academic division.
- Natural Sciences and Engineering - Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology
- Social Sciences - Economics, Educational Studies, History, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology
- Humanities - Art, Classics, English Literature, Film and Media Studies, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music and Dance, Philosophy, Religion, Theater
- Interdisciplinary (please contact Corey to see if your project/proposal is best suited as an interdisciplinary application)
Please contact Corey Falls - cfalls1@swarthmore.edu - with any questions about Conference Funding.
Other Funding Sources:
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi funding can support opportunities for students that are related to scientific research. The process for seeking funding is combined with the Provost's Office conference funding process (see above).
NOTE: in order to receive Sigma Xi funding, a student must be a member of Sigma Xi. Information on how to become a member of Sigma Xi is found here.
Student Affairs Division Conference Funding
The Student Affairs Division has a limited amount of funding which is used to support students who would like to attend a conference. Please see the link to the Student Affairs website page for information about this funding.
Mentoring Mini-Grants
This initiative is designed to encourage the development of scientific identity and meaningful mentoring relationships for students who are pursuing NSE majors, and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in science, math, and engineering fields. A student’s faculty or staff mentor can apply for a Mentoring Mini-Grant to support the student mentee in a variety of ways (applications directly from students are not accepted):
- to hire the mentee as a research assistant, a mini-grant will pay the student's hourly wages;
- to bring the mentee to a scientific conference, a mini-grant will cover the student's registration and travel costs;
- to facilitate an off-campus summer research internship, a mini-grant will provide a housing stipend for the mentee;
- to encourage the mentee to re-take a foundational science course (e.g., chemistry or math) in order to consolidate their learning, a mini-grant will provide a summer tuition grant;
- to support mentors' professional development related to mentoring diverse students, e.g., participating in workshops or webinars;
- to bring alumni scientists from diverse backgrounds to campus for scientific talks or career panels.
Please contact Corey Falls - cfalls1@swarthmore.edu - with any questions about Mentoring Mini Grants.
