International Senior Thesis Research Grant (Summer)
The Buffett Institute’s International Senior Thesis Research Grant (Summer) offers awards of up to $6,000 for eight weeks of independent research on a senior thesis, covering travel and living expenses in locations outside the contiguous U.S. as well as research with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, locally and globally. The opportunity is open to undergraduate students across all fields of study during the summer.
Students who seek support for a shorter period than eight weeks of concentrated research may be considered for a prorated grant. Prorated grants are usually for six or seven weeks of research, as approved by a faculty supervisor.
The 2025 application deadline is March 21.
To be eligible for this grant, students must meet the following requirements:
- They must be conducting senior thesis research on an international or global issue outside of the contiguous U.S.
- They must be an undergraduate student at Northwestern University and not graduating any earlier than the end of the Fall 2024 term.
- They may not be enrolled in summer classes or completing an internship during the eight-week research period.
- They must not accept any other research grant that covers the eight-week research period.
- They must be in good academic standing.
Please be aware that all students who receive funds for research abroad must meet additional requirements set out by Northwestern's Office of Global Safety and Security. As non-credit travelers, all student awardees must complete the International Travel Registry and purchase travel medical insurance through GeoBlue. Some research locations may require a Travel Permission Request according to the international travel policy for undergraduate students. These requirements must be met before successful applicants will receive funds, and travel to certain countries may be restricted for health and safety reasons.
If your proposed research involves collecting data from human subjects (including interviews, surveys, etc.), you will need to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval before you may begin your project. The (IRB) is a multidisciplinary committee that reviews research involving human subjects to ensure the rights and welfare of human subjects are protected.
All Northwestern researchers, including undergraduates, who are involved in the conduct of human subjects research are also required to complete initial human subjects protection training and to re-certify every three years. This training is separate from the application process to receive IRB approval for your research project. If you have questions, please contact your faculty supervisor.
We highly recommend that applicants also consider applying for the Summer Undergraduate Research Grant offered by the Office of Undergraduate Research. While students can only receive one research grant during this funding period, applying to both programs increases the chances of securing funding for your research project.
The 2024 application deadline was March 20.
Students apply via the online application. The application requires an endorsement from the student’s faculty supervisor to be considered complete. In the application form, students must provide their faculty member's email address. Once submitted, the faculty member will receive an email notification outlining the next steps. Thus, it is important for students to submit their application well before the deadline and to inform their faculty supervisor in advance that they intend to apply for this grant and include details such as the application deadline and a link to this webpage.
The Office of Undergraduate Research has a robust set of resources to help students understand how to prepare components of a research proposal. If students have questions about the Buffett Institute’s International Senior Thesis Research Grant specifically, please email please email Program Coordinator Grace Lewis.
The 2024 application deadline was March 20. We notified students of their award decision in April.
This application requires a faculty endorsement. Once a student submits their application, their faculty supervisor will receive a copy of the application along with a link to a short endorsement form to complete. We ask that faculty supervisors submit the endorsement by the application deadline, which was March 20, 2024 for the 2024 application cycle.
We ask that this award be transferred to the faculty supervisor's department, which will then disburse funds to the student directly in one lump sum at the beginning of summer. If your department is unable to administer this award, we will work with you. If your student is awarded, we will contact you with the next steps then.
If you have questions, please email please email Program Coordinator Grace Lewis.