Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
Seeking to make substantive contributions to an international or global research project led by a faculty mentor at Northwestern?
The Buffett Institute for Global Affairs is launching a new international research program for undergraduates, starting in summer 2024 and continuing through the 2024–25 academic year. Designed to provide students with a significant global or international learning experience through faculty-led research, the Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program will match a cohort of undergraduates with summer research assistantships.
Through the program, undergraduate students will become meaningfully involved in a faculty mentor’s international or global research project and/or creative process and learn how collaborative research is conducted in or across disciplines. Dependent upon each Research Fellow’s availability and their faculty mentor’s needs, some cohort members will continue through the 2024–25 academic year, carrying on in their research assistantship for additional quarters and participating in a series of practical and professional development workshops.
The 2024–25 application deadline is March 21.
Each Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellow will be eligible to earn up to $4,000 total through a paid research assistantship ($16 per hour for up to 250 hours, carried out over the summer and/or any subsequent quarters during the 2024–25 academic year). If international travel is required for Research Fellows to fulfill the duties of their assistantships, some projects may be eligible for travel support of up to an additional $2,000.
Research Fellows will work and meet regularly with their faculty mentor to carry out meaningful research under their supervision—they will not be expected to simply make photocopies or proofread manuscripts. The day-to-day responsibilities of each Research Fellow will differ based on the research project for which they are selected.
Faculty can pre-select a Research Fellow or list a Research Fellow position for which any student can apply. Once all job search applications are reviewed, faculty interview and select their Research Fellow(s). The application requires students to upload a cover letter and resume and to indicate the research project(s) in which they are most interested. Faculty mentors conduct interviews with job search applicants at the start of spring quarter and notifications of selection are made by mid-April. See descriptions of 2024–25 faculty projects>>
Questions? Please e-mail Buffett-Undergrad-Programs@northwestern.edu.
Review criteria differ based on the research project(s) for which a student applies. Prior research experience is not required, but certain faculty mentors may have requirements for skills needed to effectively support their research project, such as proficiency in a specific foreign language.
The 2024–25 application deadline was March 20, 2024.
As a part of the application, all students are asked to indicate the research project(s) for which they would like to apply and upload a cover letter and resume highlighting any relevant previous experience, skills or coursework.
Applicants may indicate up to 2 projects for which they would like to be considered and must submit a separate cover letter for each project in order to be considered. Please provide the link(s) to the project(s) for which you would like to apply and note in the title of the cover letter the project you are applying for with that letter. (i.e., "ProjectName, Your LastName Cover Letter")
You may view a pdf of the full application before applying. The application window closed at 11:59 p.m. on March 20, 2024.