UW Deadline: October 30, 2015, 12:00 noon (PDT)
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has
opened the competition for the 2016 International Student Research
Fellowship and 57 institutions around the U.S. have been invited to
submit nominations. These fellowships will be awarded
to students engaged in their doctoral dissertation research, and is specifically for international students in biomedical or related fields who are currently in their 2nd or 3rd years of PhD work.
Eligible fields of study include
biology, chemistry, physics, math, computer science, engineering, and
plant biology – as well as interdisciplinary research. The Graduate
School at the UW has been identified as the coordinating body for the
UW, and I am writing today to let you know the
process, deadlines, etc. for nominating your students for this
opportunity.
Eligible students are those who:
• have demonstrated exceptional talent and innovation in research,
• are in the second (or third) year of graduate study (as of autumn 2015),
• have entered a laboratory in which they will conduct their dissertation research, and
• are not U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, or permanent residents of the U.S.
This is a very competitive fellowship; if you
choose to send nominations please select your top international
students. The student’s advisor must be willing and available to work
closely with a UW nominated student in preparing the
application. [Nominated students will be contacted by HHMI and given access to the full application, which is due in February 2016.]
Awardees may receive up to three years of support;
support will not be provided beyond year five of a student’s doctoral
program. When selecting your nominees, keep in mind that
if a student already has fellowship
funding for his/her PhD studies they will have to decline the HHMI
fellowship or resign the fellowship they were already awarded.
Students may not apply for this fellowship on their
own but must be nominated through their department in the process
described below. We are limited in the total number of students we can
nominate (ten); as a result, we are instituting
the following process to determine which students to nominate.
Eligible departments may nominate no more than two students to the Graduate School.
It is up to each individual department how they determine their
nominees, but the two individuals should be those who best meet the
specific criteria
noted above. The Graduate School will not consider students who do not
meet the criteria of being in their second or third year of graduate
study (as of autumn quarter 2015).
Nomination materials should include the following:
1.
Nominee’s name (first, middle, last)
2.
Nominee’s email
3.
Nominee’s Department/Program
4.
Nominee’s year in the PhD program.
5.
Nominee’s thesis mentor (s)
6.
Source of nominee’s existing external funding,
either from the home country, or an external award. Also list funding
from the UW
if competitively awarded (normally RA or TA positions would not fall into this category).
- Letter of recommendation/nomination from the student’s advisor and/or chair of the department—no more than 2 pages.
Keep in mind that this letter will not be submitted as part of the
final application and the advisor will have a chance to write a longer,
more detailed letter for the actual application. This letter will be
used in choosing the nominees and in crafting
the University’s nomination letter to HHMI.
a)
The letter should outline the student’s
“demonstrated exceptional talent for research,” and any other notable
achievements to be considered in the nomination process, including
publications, and
b)
Briefly describe why the applicant was
nominated for the HHMI International Student Research Fellowship program
over other students,
specifically addressing the applicant’s potential to be a scientific leader and innovator.
8.
Statement by the student (not to exceed one page)
briefly explaining the research they are working on, its significance,
and their current career goals.
- Copy of the student’s CV
- Copy of the student’s unofficial graduate transcripts
All materials should be submitted online by either the chair, GPC or GPA no later than
Thursday, October 30, 2015 at 12 noon (PDT). Absolutely no late nominations will be accepted.
Please start uploading your materials well in advance of the deadline.
As we fully expect to receive more than 10 total
nominations, the Dean of the Graduate School will convene a selection
committee that will meet during the month of November to determine the
nominees to forward on to HHMI. The final 10
nominees will then be forwarded on to HHMI by the November 17, 2015
deadline. Those nominees will then be required to submit an online
application through HHMI that will entail a separate set of materials.
Nominated students will have plenty of time to
complete this process – the deadline won’t be until February 11, 2016.
The Fellowship office will be available to assist students with their
applications.
This is an excellent fellowship that provides
multi-year support; we encourage each of you to let your international
students know about the opportunity and to submit nominations. If you
have any questions regarding this opportunity or
the nomination process, do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward
to seeing your nominees.
