Written for the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) by Adam Przeworski of New York University and Frank Salomon of the University of Wisconsin , this is an excellent essay on preparing proposals for academic research grants. Although written primarily for SSRC fellowship applicants, the essay's points are easily generalized for applicants for any study or research grants. The authors have considerable experience on review committees, and their candid advice should give potential applicants a new perspective on preparing essays.
The Foundation Center is the national clearinghouse for information on grants and grant sponsors in the US, and its Internet site is appropriately thorough and comprehensive. The site includes information on the Foundation Center, an online library, information on training and seminars, grantmaker information, funding trends and news analysis, a philanthropy news digest, an introduction to grantsmanship, and extensive links to grantmakers and charitable organizations online. Links to Foundation Center offices and cooperating library collections across the country also indicate which sites allow on-site searching of
FC Search, the Foundation Center 's exclusive database of over 74,000 foundation and corporate grantmakers and their associated grants.
Study in the U.S.
This is the free Internet version of the College Board's Fund Finder® scholarship database, which includes listings of scholarships, fellowships, loans, internships, and other types of financial aid from 2,300 national, state, public, and private sources. Users must indicate the school year or degree level at which they are studying, as well as selected information from a broad range of identifying categories. The search engine then displays names and descriptions of matched scholarships.
Community of Science, Inc. (COS) is a leading Internet site for the global research and development community. Among its services, COS Funding OpportunitiesT allows member users to search over 23,000 records representing over 400,000 funding opportunities. Users can search or browse funding sponsors, search by keyword, or search geographically. The database is updated daily.
FastWeb, a free online database of over 600,000 scholarship opportunities supporting both undergraduate and graduate study, is one of the most comprehensive sources of funding information on the Internet. Users first create a personalized profile that will match their specific skills, abilities, interests, and other identifying characteristics to scholarships in the database. Users may also create mailboxes on the site to receive updated information whenever new scholarships that match their profiles are added to the database.
Created by Mark Kantrowitz, author of
The Prentice Hall Guide to Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students , this free site is among the best guides to student financial aid on the Internet. It helps students and families demystify the many forms of financial aid, and includes links to several of the Internet sites mentioned in this section.
Developed and maintained by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, GrantsNet is a searchable database of funding opportunities in the biological and medical sciences. The site is free but requires registration, which allows users to sign up for e-mail notification whenever the site is updated.
Developed and maintained by CollegeNET, Mach25 is a free online database of approximately 600,000 awards for undergraduate and graduate study. Users may search by keyword or create a personalized profile that will match their specific skills, abilities, interests, and other identifying characteristics to scholarships in the database. Users may also save their search results on the site.
The Student Guide , from the US Department of Education, is the most comprehensive online resource for student financial aid. Grants, loans, and work-study are the three major forms of student financial aid available through the federal Student Financial Assistance Programs. Updated each award year,
The Student Guide describes these programs and how to apply for them. The Internet version includes an electronic version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which is required in application to these programs. One must register to use this site.
Wiredscholar, a service of Sallie Mae, Inc., is an extensive site to help students select and plan for college and graduate school. The "Paying for College" section includes access to one of the largest free scholarship databases on the Internet. Users must register and create a personal profile to use the scholarship search. An express search option provides a broad query to the database, and a premier search option uses personal profile fields to yield a more focused number of scholarship possibilities. Users can save their searchs and update their profiles at any time.
Study Overseas
International Scholarships Online is one of the more comprehensive online databases for students seeking funding to study overseas, either at the undergraduate or graduate level. It includes scholarships, loan programs, and other information. Users can search by field of study, study location, or host institution. A mirror site, International Education Financial Aid, is located at http://www.iefa.org.
Hosted by the Learning Abroad Center at the University of Minnesota , the searchable scholarships database offers free access to information on over 200 scholarships to support study overseas, including some for postgraduate study. Users may search by keyword, geographic region, program format, general subject, general eligibility, and special eligibility categories.
Women and Minority Students
Independently maintained, this is a fairly thorough compilation of awards for minority students at all levels of study. "Minorities" include African Americans, Hispanics (Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, and South and Central Americans), Native Alaskans (Aleuts, Inuit, and Eskimos), Native Americans, and Native Pacific Islanders (Hawaiians, Polynesians, and Micronesians). Links to FastWeb.
Exploring Other Possibilities
The Community Career Center , a site "dedicated to those who serve others", offers a searchable database of not-for-profit jobs in the U.S. and overseas. Users may search for employment geographically, by interest area, by function or skill, by salary range, and by work or mission key words. This is a useful site for those contemplating funding for work in the not-for-profit sector.
Cool Works provides information about 75,000 summer, part-time, and full-time jobs and internships with state and national parks, volunteer organizations, and other organizations, most of which involve the outdoors; the database can be searched by state. Many of these jobs will be of interest to individuals seeking funding for public service, public sector, or environmental experiences.
