From 2010 to 2016, the Smithsonian Institution and the Big Ten Academic Alliance have partnered to offer fellowship opportunities to Big Ten Academic Alliance doctoral students. The Smithsonian proposes to expand the number of Fellowships awarded to Big Ten Academic Alliance doctoral students from seven to approximately 25 – the number of awards will vary from year to year pending available Smithsonian and Big Ten Academic Alliance funds.
The Smithsonian would continue to pay:
• half the stipend for each Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellow (The other half is covered by the student’s home institution. The total stipend is $32,700.)
• a health allowance in accordance with university plans: either a) one half of the monthly cost of university health insurance or b) $50.00 per month for single students or $100.00 per month for families, whichever is lower).
• the one-time travel allowance for relocation to the Smithsonian
• a maximum research allowance of up to $4,000 (if the Smithsonian committee choses to award a Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellow with travel and research allowances).
This proposal assumes the quality of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship applicants remains high and they are competitive when compared to other fellowship applicants that committees review. With this proposal it would be possible to award as many eligible doctoral students as the participating institutions are willing to fund. Each Big Ten Academic Alliance institution would still be informed whenever one or more of their students has been awarded a Fellowship at the Smithsonian and would have the option to decline their financial support of half the student’s stipend before we award the student.
Some Big Ten Academic Alliance schools may not have any applicants for Smithsonian fellowships some years (as happens each year). For those that do, each year they will continue to have the decision-making capacity to decline to fund any fellowships for their students or fund one to all of the students selected by the Smithsonian. Rather than 7 fellowship recipients each year, with this expansion it is anticipated that there could be as many as 25 fellows each year.
The application for the Smithsonian Fellowship is open from September 6 to December 1, 2016. Applications are submitted through Smithsonian’s application portal: https://solaa.si.edu See Progam Guide for full details on how to apply.
Big Ten Academic Alliance Contact:
Joseph Miller
Academic Programs Coordinator
(217) 244-4899
Smithsonian Contact:
Amy Lemon
Program Manager
Office of Fellowships & Internships
(202) 633-7065
