Program

Description and objectives: The Summer Language Grant (SLG) is intended to assist PhD students with expenses related to language acquisition during the summer. The grant is intended for students who require language training for their research. Preference is given to students who require training in a language that is not their primary area of study but is still a significant part of their research.  Grants are made to help defray expenses incurred pursuing language instruction outside the Chicago metropolitan area during the summer session. Summer Language Grants may not be used for language study at Northwestern. Students may apply for an SLG to pursue immersion language training via a study abroad program.

1. Summer Language Grants may be held concurrently with other awards, such as a Summer University Fellowship.
2. The grantee must be registered at Northwestern University for Summer Term.

Award amount: The maximum award amount is $2,000.

Award period: Awards are for the summer term. At the end of the award period, any unspent funds must be returned to the University.

Eligibility: First-, second-, and third-year PhD students in Divisions II and III (social sciences and humanities) of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education and Social Policy, the School of Communication (humanities and social science projects), and the School of Music are eligible for the SLG. Prior to the beginning of the award period, the student must have completed 3 quarters of full-time full tuition registration toward the PhD degree in The Graduate School. Although formal coursework is not a pre-requisite, students must have had some exposure to the target language before making an application. Students with at least one year of study in the target language will be given preference for the award. Students beyond their third year of graduate study will receive funding only in exceptional cases. Students who are on an extension of the deadline for the completion of all PhD requirements are not eligible for a Summer Language Grant. Awards will not be granted for retroactive payments.

Department approval: Electronic submission of a proposal by the designated department or program person (see below) constitutes confirmation that the proposal has been vetted and endorsed by the department or program.

Deadline and Notification dates: Deadline for receipt of proposals is 12:00 noon on Friday, March 06, 2009. Awards will be announced in April.

Final report: A brief final report is required. It should include a description of your accomplishments. Submit this to Mary Pat Doyle in The Graduate School at the end of your summer language training.

Review Process, Criteria for Selection, Budget

Review process and criteria for selection: Recipients of grants are determined by the Summer Language Grant Committee. Decisions are based on the committee's final evaluations and the availability of funds.

Criteria for selection include:

• The relevance of the proposed language to the applicant's academic program
• The availability of the proposed language versus its availability at Northwestern
• Prior study, if any, of the proposed language
• The quality and breadth of the applicant's preparation and the potential or demonstrated productivity of the applicant.

Budget – allowed costs, non-allowed costs:

Allowable Costs:

• Living expenses incurred while attending an instituition outside the Chicago metropolitan area during the summer session
• Travel expenses
• Educational expenses

Non-allowable Costs:

• Retroactive charges for expenditures incurred or committed prior to review and approval of the application.

Nomination process

The materials described below must be collected into a single pdf file and submitted by the person in the department or program designated to be the TGS nominator for that department/program. Applications not adhering to the page, font, and format instructions will not be considered.

Materials required: The following materials are required, in the order specified.  They must be written in Times New Roman 12-pt. font.  Do not exceed page limitations.

1. The completed SLG Application Form. You may download a WORD version of this form by clicking the link at the bottom of this webpage.
2. A statement (double-spaced, not to exceed two pages) that describes:
   • The relevance of the proposed language to the applicant's academic program
   • The availability of the proposed language
   • Prior study, if any, of the proposed language
3. A budget (not to exceed one page) that itemizes the estimated expenses and shows the total amount requested. Be specific. Per diem and lodging must be listed separately. Round to the nearest dollar.
4. A curriculum vitae (not to exceed two pages) including educational history, awards, presentations, publications, professional honors, memberships and experience.
5. An unofficial Northwestern transcript. Unofficial transcripts may be obtained from CAESAR. After logging in to CAESAR, you can view your unofficial transcript by selecting “For Students”-> “Academic Information”-> “View Unofficial Transcript.” Select “Switch to printer-friendly view” at the top of the screen.  To save your unofficial transcript as an electronic document, cut and paste the entire transcript into a Word (or equivalent) file.
6. A letter of recommendation from your advisor (or another faculty member, if advisor is unavailable).

The deadline for receipt of all application materials is 12:00 noon on Friday, March 06, 2009.

Applicant's responsibilities: The student applying for the grant is responsible for preparing items 1-5 above as electronic documents and providing these to the designated nominator for the department or program. In addition, the student is responsible for requesting that his or her advisor prepare the recommendation letter in electronic form and deliver it to the designated nominator. (Guidelines for writers of recommendation letters are provided in the application instructions.)

Department nominator's responsibilities: The designated department or program nominator is responsible for assembling all the documents, including the letter of recommendation, into a single PDF file and submitting the application to The Graduate School through the web interface.

Instructions for web site: Each department or program should have a designated person who submits the pdf file through the web interface. This would normally be the Chair, Director of Graduate Studies or Program Assistant. This person should contact Bill Rett, IT Manager for The Graduate School, for access to the system or for other related technical questions (w-rett@northwestern.edu). For other questions, please contact Lesley Perry (847/491-7332, l-perry2@northwestern.edu).

To submit the proposal the nominator should go to http://fellowships.gsad.northwestern.edu/ and use her/his current netid and password to long into the site. After logging in, the designated submitter should fill in the data fields requested and click "Browse" to select the assembled PDF file. For Program, select the Academic Program that is nominating the student. For Award, select the correct competition the student is being nominated for. When everything is complete, click the "Submit Application" button at the bottom of the page.

2009 Summer Language Grant Application is currently unavailable. 

CONTACT:

Lesley Perry, The Graduate School, 633 Clark Street, Crown 1-502, Evanston Campus

847/491-7332; l-perry2@northwestern.edu