fellowships

Get Involved

start summer select a project things to know

Time Commitments
Preference is given to projects with potential for significant community benefit and sustainable outcomes, and these typically require substantial time commitments.

We welcome applications that combine service projects with other work that students are undertaking — for instance, a student studying abroad for a semester can combine this with a Fellowship project undertaken in their spare time.

For summer Fellowships, we expect a minimum of 6 weeks full-time or 8 weeks part-time work, and a maximum of 12 weeks full-time or part-time work.

For IAP Fellowships, we expect a minimum of 100 hours work, but preference is given to full-time four-week projects. The maximum length of an IAP project is 4 weeks.

For local semester-time Fellowships, we expect a minimum of 5 hours a week and a maximum of 20 hours a week.

Funding
Fellowship funding is intended primarily to support the living and travel expenses of the students involved.

All applicants must submit a budget outlining their financial needs for the Fellowship and any other secured or potential sources of funding. The selection committee will determine the amount of funding provided on a case by case basis — there is no set funding amount.

Funding decisions will take into account the potential impact of the proposed work. We are unlikely to fund short-term projects with high expenses.

For students who need to travel to their Fellowship sites, a portion of their allowed travel and living expenses can be provided in advance of the project either as a travel advance check, in the form of travel tickets purchased by the PSC from an MIT-approved travel agency, or as a combination of the two. The remainder of the allocated funding can be accessed either as a weekly stipend after a pre-arranged amount of work has been completed or by reimbursement for expenses after the trip is completed. Both the stipend and reimbursement are dependent on good reporting from the student during the course of the project.

Students who don’t need travel funding can request a stipend of $10 an hour for their Fellowship work.

The aim is for Fellows to be resourceful and do as much as they can with the equipment and supplies that are available through their host organizations or the communities they are serving. If additional supplies are needed Fellows may apply for grants to cover some project expenses such as prototyping materials, ground transportation, some equipment, printing and binding, gifts for community partners, etc. Fellows should anticipate project expenses and include these in their application budgets when possible. However, grant requests may also be submitted after applying and during the course of the project. All requests must be submitted in advance of making any purchases. Will we not consider retrospective grant requests.

How to be a competitive applicant
Start early! Once you have found a community and project that interests you, and before submitting your application, you MUST contact the community organization to:

  • learn more about their needs
  • collaborate with them to develop your Fellowship project and work plan
  • arrange for someone to be your supervisor (your supervisor may be someone from outside of the community or organization, if appropriate)
  • make sure your project builds capacity for the community you will be serving

You also need to:

  • make sure your project is feasible given the time you have available, and the skills and knowledge you can provide
  • communicate well with your community partner -be sure not to promise anything you cannot deliver, and make sure they understand that you may not be awarded a Fellowship. The better the collaboration between you and your community partner, the more likely we are to award you a Fellowship.
  • leave plenty of time to get letters of recommendation from your community partner and an MIT faculty or staff member.

The Rules

  • All registered MIT and CME students who will be enrolled for at least one additional semester are eligible to apply.
  • You can submit as many applications as you like. You will need a separate application for each Fellowship project you propose. Please note that the application guidelines for the different Fellowship types differ.
  • If you and a friend want to work together on a Fellowship project, you have two options - two or more people can agree to split the stipend and workload of a single Fellowship or two or more people can apply to receive separate full stipends and each work the maximum Fellowship hours on a larger joint project.
    In each case, the selection committee will award Fellowships based on applicants’ individual merits, so there is no guarantee that people who apply together will be selected together.
    It should be clear from your application that you intend to work with someone else on the project. Explain why you think a joint project is advantageous, which of the above options you are interested in, and what each person’s role will be. Indicate whether you would consider doing the project alone if only one person is accepted. Each applicant must turn in a separate application.
  • If you are planning an international internship, check the MIT travel policy and travel warnings at http://informit.mit.edu/epr/3.0travel.html

Just so you know…
If selected you will need to

  • Check-in at least once a week with your Fellowship liaison, sending us a few paragraphs telling us
    1. what you are up to at the moment
    2. what you’ve accomplished so far
    3. what you plan to do over the next week or two
    4. the main things you’ve learnt so far
    5. your favorite inspiring or funny stories about the Fellowship
  • Ensure that your community supervisor oversees your work and checks-in regularly with the Fellowship staff (by phone or email) to report hours and project progress.
  • Sign a contract and a liability waiver. Minors will also need the signature of a parent or guardian on their forms.
  • Arrange for all necessary health, safety, and legal needs: e.g. passport and visa if needed, health insurance, vaccinations.
  • After your Fellowship, we will ask you to submit
    1. two short articles describing your experiences and reflecting on their effects (we suggest you keep a journal to help with this)
    2. an evaluation form
    3. if you receive a materials grant, a brief report on how the funds were spent
    4. Photos and other supporting documentation from your project

We may ask you to give a presentation for the MIT community on your Fellowship experiences.

Questions? Email Alison , phone 617 258 0691, or stop by the Public Service Center in 4-104 or Alison’s office in W20-549