Chemistry Undergraduate Scholarships and Research Support

The Department of Chemistry provides academic year scholarships and summer research support to undergraduate students who are chemistry majors or are conducting research with a chemistry faculty member. Please note that applicants working with affiliated faculty members must ALSO be chemistry majors. Non-chemistry majors working with an affiliate faculty member are not eligible for these scholarships. An overall GPA of 2.5 is recommended, but not required, for award eligibility; awards are based on both merit and financial need.


How to Apply
To be considered for all available chemistry academic year scholarships and/or summer research support, log in and complete the General Application on your WiSH Dashboard. Then complete the Chemistry Undergraduate Scholarships and Research Support application, which opens in mid December and closes in early February. During this open period, you can find the application under “Other Recommended Opportunities” on your WiSH Dashboard. The department’s Scholarships Committee will review all completed applications and evaluate which scholarships and/or research support are best suited to an individual student on the basis of merit and/or financial need. Award recipients are notified by late March.


Conditions of Award
Recipients of academic year scholarships must be enrolled full-time for the semester(s) they receive the award. Summer research award recipients must commit to working at least 30 hours per week for eight weeks during the summer, or 240 hours over the entire summer. Students cannot receive both the UW-Madison Hilldale/Holstrom Research Fellowship and chemistry summer research support for the same semester.


It’s recommended that students with financial need have a completed FAFSA form on file with UW-Madison. Student financial aid packages can be impacted by scholarship awards. It is recommended that students contact the Office of Student Financial Aid to learn about potential impact on current aid packages.


For more information about the Department of Chemistry Scholarships and Research Support, visit Chemistry Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards.

Award
Varies
Organizations
Department of Chemistry
Deadline
02/07/2025
Supplemental Questions
  1. Are you currently a chemistry major, or are you conducting undergraduate research with a chemistry faculty or staff member?
  2. Are you applying for academic year scholarships or summer research support (choose either or both)?
  3. If you are applying for summer research support, please provide a short description (50 words maximum) of your proposed research.
  4. Please select your current year of schooling in higher education:
  5. Please identify chemistry faculty with whom you have conducted research and the corresponding semester (write "none", if you have not performed any research with chemistry faculty):
  6. Please provide the names of any other faculty who know you best (if none, please write "none"):
  7. Please provide the name and email of the faculty member or mentor expected to provide a letter of support ("recommendation"):
  8. Have you or has anyone in your immediate family (parents, siblings, or children) served in the U.S. military or military reserves?
  9. If you answered yes to the previous question, please provide more details as to who in your family has served, what branch of military, and approximately when.
  10. Do you intend on applying for the Hilldale Research Fellowship or the Holstrom Scholarship?
  11. Please provide the phonetic pronunciation of your name (i.e. Raul Gonzalez is rah-OOL gon-SAH-les). Use this link for further instructions on phonetic pronunciation: https://www.cmu.edu/hub/registrar/docs/phonetic-spelling-instructions.pdf
  12. Use student center to retrieve and upload your unofficial transcript. To do so, click "View Unofficial Transcripts" on the Academic Records tile. If you need an additional assistance on how to download your unofficial transcript, please refer to these instructions.
  13. If you are a transfer student, please indicate where and when you previously attended:
  14. The application does not automatically import records from previously attended institutions. Therefore, transfer students who are currently enrolled as undergraduates at UW-Madison are required to attach their transcripts (all combined into a single pdf) here. Even though this section is not marked as required, transfer students must provide the requested document. Unofficial transcripts are sufficient.
  15. Please provide a brief statement of interest (no more than two double-spaced pages) to best present yourself as an applicant for a scholarship and/or research support. The statement should address the following topics:
    1. Describe your current and past activities at UW-Madison. This could include undergraduate research (including the names of your supervisors and dates or semesters), publications, other professionally relevant activities, or any chemistry organizations or outreach programs of which you are a member or with which you are active.
    2. Describe any professionally relevant experience (studies or research elsewhere, summer jobs, tutoring, etc.).
    3. Tell us about your plans for the future (e.g., will you be doing undergraduate research, are you planning on graduate or medical school, teaching at the high school or college level, working in industry, etc.).
    4. Some of our scholarship and research support opportunities are financial need based. Please state any special circumstances regarding your or your family’s financial need that may not be reflected in your information on file with the Financial Aid Office. Examples of special circumstances may include whether you’re managing a job along with school responsibilities, family obligations, significant travel or other hardships.
  16. Please provide a resume that details your academic and professional experiences. In particular, please highlight any academic honors, research experience, civic leadership, extra-curricular activities, and community service that may best present you as a candidate for an award.
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