How are fellowships awarded?

Awards are made through a selection committee. Several faculty members (from Emory and sometimes from other Atlanta colleges) review the applications and select students they feel would most benefit from an award.

What criteria does the selection committee use to make awards?

Committee members base their recommendations on various criteria (note these criteria are not listed in order of importance):

• student's academic standing (grade point average)
• student's academic background (do completed courses offer an appropriate background for the SURE program?)
• student's home university (colleges vary in the research opportunities they offer their students; for some students, a fellowship outside their home campus may be their only chance to do research during their undergraduate years)
• recommendation from a science mentor (to help us evaluate their potential in the sciences)
• a student's personal statement (to help us evaluate the student's motivation(s) to participate in our program) [non-Emory students only]
• quality of research proposal submitted [Emory students only]

Why are applicants asked to indicate their ethnicity and gender? What happens if I leave that section blank?

As indicated in the application, providing this information is voluntary. Our office requests this information for various reasons.

• Students that are awarded a fellowship will need to provide this information eventually. If a student is awarded a fellowship and they have not provided this information, they will have to provide it in their acceptance letter to complete the summer registration process.
• Women and minorities are underrepresented in many scientific fields. This means that the number of women and minorities working in those fields is significantly lower than expected, considering the total number of women and minorities in the population at large. The causes for this disparity are varied. Our funding sources hope to increase women and minority representation by encouraging these groups to apply.

Our office uses this information to track application trends. Some applicants fear their award chances will suffer if they indicate (or fail to indicate) their ethnic background or gender. Every applicant that has ever been awarded a SURE fellowship was superbly qualified for the position as judged by the selection criteria.