Fellowships & Scholarships

These terms are often used interchangeably. In some cases, a scholarship may refer to a grant in support of undergraduate education, and a fellowship may refer to a grant for post-baccalaureate work. Fellowships usually also come with some kind of cohort experience and/or leadership development.

Information about selection criteria and the mission of a scholarship or fellowship can be found on the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships site. You can also visit the website of a specific award for further details.

Many scholarships and fellowships require that applicants be US citizens. You can search for opportunities for non-US citizens on the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships site. Some scholarships or fellowships permit applicants to apply through their country of citizenship.

You’re not too late! It’s never too late—or too early—to start thinking about applying for nationally competitive awards. Some awards are only available during your first or second year of undergraduate study, so sophomore year is the ideal time for especially focused students to start thinking about fellowships and scholarships. At the same time, for students whose intellectual and personal goals come into focus later in their career, senior year or even after might be the ideal time to apply. Get started as early as you can, since the best way to increase your competitiveness is to keep applying for things, but you don’t need to worry that you’ve “missed the boat” even if you don’t apply for any awards until after you’ve graduated.

Absolutely! Once a Husky, always a Husky. As long as you are eligible for an award and not enrolled at another institution, we are glad to support you in your application process.

Absolutely. There are a number of fellowship opportunities that offer post-graduate service or professional experiences with no expectation that you are necessarily going on to graduate school. Profellow.com is a great resource for these professional opportunities.

Stop asking that question. Prestige is much less important than your specific fit for the fellowship in question. A program that is a perfect match for your interest and skill set is going to be a better launching pad for you into a future career than a super-prestigious fellowship that doesn’t align with your interests, values, or goals. Also, if you’re hyper-focused on prestige, that will come across in your application materials and compromise your competitiveness.

Some awards require institutional endorsement. For these awards, Undergraduate Research and Fellowships conducts an internal process in order to select applicants for endorsement. If you are interested in applying for an award that has an internal deadline, please contact us to receive further information about the process.

It really depends on the fellowship–some awards care a ton about grades, while others place more emphasis on experience or the quality of the specific project you are hoping to fund. When applying, carefully consider the specific selection criteria and mission of the scholarship or fellowship in order to determine if these match your strengths and experiences. Keep in mind, the real benefit of the application is the process: the opportunity you will gain to articulate your goals and values, the chance to draft materials you can use for graduate school or other opportunities, and the opportunity to receive focused feedback on your writing.

The amount of time required for selection varies by scholarship or fellowship. Often this information will be available on the scholarship or fellowship website. Advisors in Undergraduate Research and Fellowships can also provide guidance in terms of when applicants typically receive a response.

Selection committees vary, but frequently include experts in a particular field or past winners of scholarships or fellowships. During internal campus reviews, selection committees consist of Northeastern faculty, staff, and advisors in Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

There are three factors for choosing a recommender: relationship, relevance, and prestige. Ideally, you would choose a professor/supervisor who knows you well, who can speak directly to the selection criteria, and who is well-known in their field. It goes without saying, however, that few people fit all three factors. Relevance and relationship are most important, by far. It’s much more useful for you to have a glowing letter full of specific detail from your direct supervisor at your Hill internship than a boilerplate one from a Senator. That being said, it is rarely a good idea to ask a graduate student for a letter of recommendation. And you should never ask a family friend or fellow undergraduate.

Always give your recommender room to say “no”, and give them plenty of notice. A weak letter of recommendation can tank an application, so the phrase “Can you write me a strong letter of recommendation” is your friend.

If they agree, you should be clear about why you’re asking them to write for you and give them a copy of your resume and a draft of your personal statement (or give them a date by which you will send them that draft). Additionally, give at least a month notice and a specific due date. Letters of recommendation are almost always the last priority for your writer, so help them out as much as you can with as much information upfront as possible.

Definitely. The first letter someone writes for you will serve as a template for later letters, so multiple letters are not an issue at all. If you are asking someone to write you multiple letters, it’s a good idea to send them a spreadsheet with due dates and links to the submission forms.

No, you cannot apply for more than one PEAK Fellowship per cycle (Fall, Spring, or Summer). Each PEAK fellowship (Base Camp, Summit, or Trail-Blazer) is designed for a different kind of experience, so you should focus on the award that best matches your goals and level of experience.

Yes!  While you can only apply to one PEAK Fellowship per cycle (Fall, Spring, or Summer), you are welcome to apply for multiple PEAKs over your time at Northeastern, for one continuing project, or for multiple projects.  As you apply, make sure to calibrate which fellowship you apply for to your project’s content and your skill level.

Yes: each student can receive one of each kind of fellowship per academic year, and students can only participate in a Base Camp fellowship once during their time at Northeastern.

Please do! Those who do not receive a PEAK Fellowship during one cycle are more than welcome to apply in upcoming cycles.

PEAK Fellowships are not able to support internal or external Co-op projects. PEAK funding is designed to support experiential learning opportunities beyond Co-op. For funding related to your Co-op, we recommend contacting your college’s Co-op office to explore available resources.

Students are not eligible to apply for a PEAK Fellowship for work to be conducted while they are on Co-op.

PEAK Fellowships  are not able to support Co-op projects. PEAK funding is designed to support experiential learning opportunities beyond Co-op. For funding related to your Co-op, we recommend contacting your college’s Co-op office to explore available resource.

If your proposal is for work unrelated to your Co-op, but conducted during a fellowship cycle within which you will be on Co-op, please apply for a future PEAK cycle that falls outside of your time on Co-op.

Yes, all PEAK projects require applicants to have identified a Northeastern faculty member (not an undergraduate, graduate or PhD student, or an individual external to the University) to serve as their project mentor.

Students are able to do PEAK Fellowsip Projects outside of Northeastern University. However, there are factors to consider:

1. PEAK Fellowships are not able to support Co-op projects. PEAK funding is designed to support experiential learning opportunities beyond Co-op. For funding related to your Co-op, we recommend contacting your college’s Co-op office to explore available resource
2. If you are undertaking your project outside of Northeastern, you must have a Northeastern faculty member ALSO serve as a faculty mentor. The Northeastern mentor will attach their letter of support through the fellowships application portal,  please attach a letter of support from the off-site project mentor as part of your application materials by having them email it directly to URF@northeastern.edu.
3. PEAK Funding cannot be used to purchase materials for projects conducted outside of Northeastern.

Beginning in the Fall 2025 cycle, PEAK Fellowship grants cannot be used to fund group projects.

Each student receives a stipend related to their status as a PEAK fellow. Base Camp Fellows receive $1000, Summit Fellows receive $2000, and Trail-Blazer Fellows receive $6000. This money can be divided with your PI to cover the costs of project materials if necessary.

Yes. A Base Camp Fellowships is a good way to build expertise in a new field. Be sure to indicate in your application materials what relevant previous experience you bring to the project and how this training is relevant to your long-term professional and educational goals.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, don’t worry. That being said, you should be able to articulate what is interesting and relevant about the work you propose with the goal of doing, understanding, or shaping something new. This can be a new business, a new insight, a new organization–new knowledge. Ultimately, all research or creative activity has to do with understanding what has come before and the shape of your field of endeavor.

We encourage students to consult with their faculty mentors as to what constitutes as a novel contribution to a specific field.

That depends on the project. The application includes a project timeline which you will create with your mentor. If you plan to take family vacation or other time off, please incorporate that into your research timeline. Students are not permitted to pursue full-time employment or take classes while conducting a Trail-Blazer Fellowship.

This question may be referring to thesis with the Honors Program, or an Honors thesis within your discipline. If this is in reference to the former, the Northeastern Honors Program may have some resources available. Either way, a PEAK Fellowship can be used for thesis work. If you are conducting a project for class credit, you may not also be paid for the same work using PEAK Fellowship funds.

No. The PEAK Fellowship is meant to cover research experiences that are conducted outside of class work for credit. However, you can continue work begun in a class through a PEAK fellowship in a later semester.

The professional development meetings are a required part of the PEAK Fellowship. If you are unable to attend, please email URF@northeastern.edu so we can be in touch about accomodating your situation.

One of the exciting (and maddening) elements that differentiates independent research from coursework is that it isn’t usually graded. You’re building on a larger body of knowledge, working in collaboration with your fellow scientists, artists, or critics. We do ask that you report your progress and results with our office in various ways–presenting your research, giving updates, reporting on the experience etc. These are helpful to us to keep in mind when helping you navigate other opportunities, but are not graded.

There are specific instructions regarding the timeline under the Application Procedure section for each fellowship.

The important thing to keep in mind is feasibility: can you do the work you propose in the allotted time (a semester or a summer)? Show us how you plan to break the tasks into smaller manageable chunks.

We review and evaluate the PEAK Fellowships in a way that is customized to the cohort who applies that cycle. Therefore, it depends on the year, but students will be notified in time for the starting point of the project.

We have announcements of fellowship winners from previous years on our website. Our database of awardees is also available for your review

Base Camp and Summit Fellowships are offered every semester, including summer. In the summer, you can also apply for a Trail-Blazer Fellowship, which is a full-time commitment for 10 weeks. The deadlines will be in the semester prior. For example, if you are looking to do a project in Fall 2026, the deadline would be during the Summer 2026 semester.

The correct language to use when acknowledging URF and the PEAK Fellowship is:  “This material is based upon work supported by a Northeastern University PEAK Fellowship.”