GWIS National Fellowships Program for Women Scientists

The Graduate Women In Science (GWIS) National Fellowship Program promotes knowledge in the natural and social sciences and encourages women’s academic and professional careers in the sciences. Endowment funds, mostly generated from bequests, provide the annual income that supports scientific research conducted by GWIS fellowship winners. During the 2023-2024 funding cycle, we distributed $50,000 in research awards to nine outstanding women scientists and recognized twenty graduate students and seven early-career honorable mentions. Since 2008, we have awarded nearly $750,000 in research awards.

The fellowships are known as the Sigma Delta Epsilon (SDE), Eloise Gerry, Ethel K. Allen, Vessa Notchev, Jean Langenheim, Monique Braude, Nell I. Mondy, Elizabeth Weisburger, and Hartley Corporation Fellowships. The highest scoring SDE Fellowship designee shall be recognized as the Adele Lewis Grant/SDE Fellowship Winner and the second-highest scoring designee shall be known as the Hartley Corporation/SDE Fellowship Winner. The funds available in any one year shall be the income from and contributions to the endowment accounts. The amount thus varies from year to year. The Fellowships Committee reserves the right to make no awards if no satisfactory applicants present themselves. The program is not bound by any estimates indicated in this description.

Click here to learn more about each of the fellowship funds and the remarkable scientists whom they are named.

2024-2025  FUNDING CYCLE

Application guidelines for the 2024-2025 Fellowship competition are now available. GWIS uses an online website to conduct the annual National Fellowship Program selection process.  The online application portal is located here. Review our online application portal user instructions here. The deadline for all application materials, including letters of recommendation, is Monday, January 8, 2024 at 5:00:00 pm Eastern Time.

NOTE: The application, including letters of recommendation, must be received on or before the deadline date and time. We are not responsible for issues associated with increased website traffic. We strongly encourage you to start your application early and submit before the deadline to avoid having connection issues. Late applications will not be accepted.

If you have any questions please contact the GWIS Fellowship Program: fellowships@gwis.org

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

• We strive to empower a community representative of all women in STEM, Life Science, and related Social Science fields. In support of our mission to cultivate a strong global community, GWIS seeks to recognize merit-based scholarship and sustained personal engagement with underrepresented communities.
• Awards will be made to women who hold a degree from a recognized institution of higher learning, who demonstrate outstanding ability and promise in research and are performing hypothesis-driven research at any institution in the U.S. or abroad. Any person who identifies as a woman in science, irrespective of race, religion, nationality, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or age is welcome to apply.
• The career level (e.g. graduate student through assistant professor) of the candidate will be taken into consideration when reviewing the proposals.
• GWIS membership is required by the application deadline (click here to join). Please note that membership approval can take up to 48 hours to process, so if you want to become a GWIS member, please do so in advance.
• Financial need for research funding is a requirement for the application. Projects that have already been fully funded by another agency or organization will be ineligible. Applicants must indicate all pending sources on the application form, as reviewers will consider these factors when assessing the project’s financial need. If at any point, the applicant accepts another award prior to being notified of the GWIS Fellowship Program’s decision, the applicant should immediately notify the program at fellowships@gwis.org.

DURATION OF THE GRANT

Applicants may propose research projects for up to 12 months. The fellowship may not be renewed. The period of the award is one academic year (July 1st through June 30th).

TERMS OF THE AWARD

• The funding period of the award is one academic year (July 1st through June 30th). Recipients are not eligible for awards in subsequent years for the same project, though they may submit applications that include a significantly different proposal than the one for which they received a GWIS Fellowship award previously.
• All of the work in the proposal must be conducted by the PI of the grant. The fellow will be the one conducting the work, rather than using the funding to support someone conducting work for them (e.g. the funds may not be used by a professor to support a graduate student).
• The fellowship recipient will submit an abstract of 100 words or less along with a recent photo of themselves (.jpg file) to GWIS Bulletin editor (editor@gwis.org) as soon as the awards are announced. This will be used for publication purposes in the national GWIS quarterly publication The Bulletin and on the GWIS website. The fellows will also submit an abstract written for a general audience to be used for outreach and further promotion of GWIS activities.
• The fellowship recipient will maintain satisfactory progress in conduct of the proposed research. If a major deviation from the project is essential, approval must be obtained from the Fellowships Committee.
• If for any reason the fellowship recipient is unable to initiate or complete the project, unexpended funds will be returned to GWIS.
• If human or animal subjects are used, an in-house human or animal subjects committee must evaluate the work, and approval from the committee must be included in the application. If approval is pending at the time of application, documentation of approval must be provided to the Fellowships Committee prior to the start of the funding period. Research involving field collections must show evidence of the proper collecting permits. If approval is pending at the time of application, documentation of approval must be provided to the Fellowships Committee prior to the start of the funding period.
• Within a month of the end of the fellowship period (July 31st), a one-page progress report and the annual expense report must be sent to the past president. The fellowship recipient’s supervisor must sign both documents. Any abstracts or reprints resulting from the proposed project must accompany the progress report. If the research extends beyond one year, submission of an annual progress report acceptable to the Fellowships Committee is required.
• Acknowledgement of support from GWIS is requested in pertinent publications, oral presentations, and on the fellow’s curriculum vitae.

EXPENSES COVERED BY THE AWARDS

A maximum of $10,000 may be requested - any proposal requesting over $10,000 will be automatically disqualified.

Fellowship funds can be used for the following:

• expendable supplies
• small equipment to be used by recipient (not for general use)
• publication of research findings
• travel and subsistence while performing field studies
• travel to another laboratory for collaborative research
• undergraduate collaborators (up to 1/3 of the total requested amount)
• study subjects' compensation

These costs associated with the project must be integral to the research design and be clearly justified in the proposal and budget justification.

Funds cannot be used for the following:

• salaries
• tuition
• child care
• travel to professional meetings or to begin a new appointment
• travel to another institution for course work
• training or workshop
• administrative overhead or indirect costs
• tablets, laptops, and personal computers
• living allowances
• equipment for general use 

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

You can find detailed instructions and link to the application here. Make sure to check out the FAQ section before you apply. 

NOTE: Only one application may be submitted per applicant. Applicants with multiple applications will be disqualified.