Honors Research Assistant Fellowships

Help fund your experience working on a faculty member's project or on your own project with faculty support. “Research” means any sort of endeavor you are undertaking under the guidance of a faculty member including work in the arts, humanities, and community-engaged learning. 

The fellowships are intended to help prepare you to undertake your own future research projects and to provide supplemental financial assistance of up to $500 a semester. These are competitive awards for which you must submit an application through  CHC PATHS. 

Awards

Students are paid the Massachusetts minimum wage through the University’s Student Hourly Payroll system, and student hours are reported through the Faculty Sponsor’s department.  

PLEASE NOTE: Fellowships are one-time awards and are not automatically awarded in subsequent semesters. You must follow the online application process for each semester you plan to apply. 

Eligibility

Applicants must be Commonwealth Honors College students in good standing (i.e., minimum cumulative GPA of 3.400). You may apply as early as your second semester at UMass Amherst. Seniors and rising seniors are not eligible to apply. 

You may receive a fellowship for work done through either an approved stand-alone Honors Independent Study or an Honors Independent Study attached to a non-honors root course, or for work not related to an Honors Independent Study. 

Faculty Sponsor

The Faculty Sponsor must be a member of the faculty. Teaching Assistants and graduate students may not serve as Faculty Sponsors. 

Application Process

The application process is two-part, requiring you to submit the project description and the Faculty Sponsor to approve it. You must initiate the process by recruiting a Faculty Sponsor and writing a 300-700 word project description. The Faculty Sponsor must review your essay before you submit. Since applications and proposals may not be revised online, you must communicate with your Faculty Sponsors regarding revisions before you submit your project description. The Faculty Sponsor must approve your submission, but does not need to submit a separate project description, letter of recommendation, or their CV. 

Applications without the Faculty Sponsor's approval cannot be considered for funding. 

You must submit the application using CHC PATHS. 

Application Requirements

Your application must include a project description of 300-700 words that describes what you hope to accomplish academically and personally through the fellowship. Please note: application information may be used for a press release. 

Selection

The selection process is competitive. CHC reviewers will evaluate each application and determine funding. 

Timeline

Online applications are accepted mid-April for disbursement during the following fall, and in late October for disbursement during the spring.  

The April deadline is for first-year students and sophomores applying for fall semester (when students will be sophomores and juniors). The October deadline is for sophomores and juniors applying for spring semester.  

Refer to CHC PATHS for the exact deadlines for submission of proposals.

Checklist

  • Begin by carefully reading the Research Assistant Fellowship criteria and instructions, above.
  • Identify a Faculty Sponsor at least one month before the deadline.
  • After speaking with your Faculty Sponsor about your project, begin writing your fellowship application project description.
  • Give your Faculty Sponsor enough time before the deadline to review the project description, comment, and advise you on revisions.
  • Before uploading the project description, get explicit final approval from your Faculty Sponsor.
  • Once submitted, the proposal cannot be revised by you or your Faculty Sponsor.
  • Start your application in CHC PATHS.
  • As soon as you have submitted your application, let your Faculty Sponsor know to be on the lookout for an automatic notification email from CHC PATHS that contains a link to the proposal system. As these notification emails sometimes end up in a spam folder, it is a good idea to follow up with your Faculty Sponsor. 

Deadlines

The Faculty Sponsor deadline is seven days after the student application deadline. Faculty Sponsors must approve the proposal to complete the application. Applications without the Faculty Sponsor's approval cannot be considered for funding. 

Please note: Application information may be used for a press release. 

For additional information or questions, please research [at] honors [dot] umass [dot] edu (email Commonwealth Honors College.)