Harold C. Conklin Research Fellowship

LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS

Requests for funding of brief visits (< 4 weeks) to the research site are considered to be minimally productive, and will generally not be funded. The Council favors field research durations of at least six weeks or more. 

Any graduate or undergraduate student currently enrolled at Yale may apply. Applicants who will graduate before the proposed project takes place will not be funded.

Applicants are free to seek other and/or additional sources of funding for their project. (To Search for grants at Yale click here >>)  As the best strategy for acquiring full funding, we recommend that students request maximum allowable amounts in all applications, rather than dividing their total budget among potential funding sources. (See YALE AWARD OVERLAPS below for information and recommendations regarding Multiple Yale Awards Overlap process).

NOTE TO UNDERGRADUATES: If you are applying for an International Summer Award (ISA) during the grant period, full disclosure is required.  Please include this information in the project description of your SEAS application.  CIPE considers study abroad programs to be the student’s “primary activity” when ISA support is provided.  If your SEAS fellowship application is for a separate research project to be carried out while you are concurrently enrolled in a summer study abroad program, please clarify your ability to do both within the same time frame, along with all potential budget/funding overlaps.

APPLICATION ADVISEMENTS AND DEADLINES

Deadline for submission of  Summer 2024 applications (including all supporting materials and recommendation letters) is February 29, 2024. Applications for academic 2024-2025 semester projects should also be submitted at this time.

Please calculate your budget carefully: post-award revisions in total amount are not permitted.

Please complete the Language Self Evaluation with care. Applicants judged to be lacking appropriate language preparation to effectively complete their project will not be competitive.  Lacking that (preferred) preparation, applicants are encouraged to plan and budget for formal language training during their stay, either prior to or concurrent with conducting their project.

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APPLICATION

All application materials must be submitted electronically through the Yale Student Grants Database
(>> CLICK HERE to access the SGDB site)

Please expect to include the following in each application:

1. Project proposal (~2 pages) succinctly specifying the request, and justifying its importance
2. Budget: including details of how money is to be spent, other funds received and/or other funding applications pending.  See >> Yale College Budget Preparation suggestions (note: we do not typically fund purchase of mobile phone)
3. Copy of transcript can be downloaded on the application website
4. One letter of recommendation (from the faculty member most directly relevant to the project).
   -> Writers of recommendations should submit letters to the SGDB application site via file upload. You will be able to monitor upload completions, and it will be your responsibility see that the submission deadline is met by your recommender.
5. Attestation of language proficiency-> Language Proficiency Evaluation Form from relevant language instructor, or personal statement regarding native language proficiency/training. These materials should also be submitted via the SGDB site. (If you believe that non-native language proficiency skills are not necessary for your project, space for justification will be provided within the application).

Project proposals should: (a) clearly state the planned dates of the project; (b) provide some background on the topic, indicating its significance and demonstrating the applicant’s understanding of the relevant contexts; (c) describe the methods to be used when carrying out the project along with the applicant’s experience with or plan for learning the proposed methods.

Special note on projects that propose working with people: Projects involving research with human subjects, including interviews, photography, video, and recording of any sort, should provide some discussion of ethical considerations, including how study participants will be recruited and how the researcher will maintain high ethical standards for the research. Students should also review the General FAQs for Student Research to understand whether their research is subject to review by the Yale Human Subjects Protection Program. In all cases where applicants will be involved with interviewing or documenting the activities of living people, applicants should always add a short discussion of the ethical principles that inform their proposed work, even if they believe that their project does not need to undergo a human subject review based on the criteria in the General FAQs.

AWARD NOTIFICATIONS

YALE AWARD OVERLAPS: Although the Council initially reviews and ranks all SEAS applications, final awards are not determined until after a “Student Grant Overlap Meeting,” usually held in mid-April. At this time, representatives from a majority of grant and fellowship sources throughout the University convene to coordinate funding for students who may be recipients of more than one award. A process of negotiation for sharing or relinquishing awards for individual students aims to eliminate any overfunding, and thus free up program resources for full or partial awards to selected students who may be underfunded. Awards and negotiations are based on the Total Project Budget as presented in the application(s), and recorded in the database. (Barring appropriate explanation, an applicant’s Total Budget for a particular project should be the same for each application).

We hope to notify all applicants of SEAS awards on or before May 1.

**Should full funding or over-funding of the total project budget occur through additional sources, you will be expected to decline or reimburse any CSEAS award amounts over that total.

As per University policy:

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS traveling with CSEAS funds must register your travel and complete all of the required forms on the CIPE - Yale College Fellowships and Independent Activities Registration page prior to receiving your award. (See Yale’s International Travel Policy for Yale College Students).

GRADUATE STUDENTS must submit a signed Assumption of Risk Form.  >>Click here to download.

ALL STUDENTS are encouraged to REGISTER your travel in case of emergency. >>Click here to access the Yale Travel Registration site.

We also strongly urge all U.S. citizens to register with the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country(s) you are traveling to as part of your grant or fellowship through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.  For more information and to register go to  STEP Program, DOS

See Yale’s International Travel Guidelines

REPORTS

A brief written report summarizing the results of your project, and how your funds were used is required at completion. Report forms will be available through the CSEAS office. Please note that if you are traveling, you will need to submit your used airline ticket as part of your report. If the cost of the ticket is significantly lower than budgeted in your application, you may be asked to submit documentation showing how the surplus funds were used. CSEAS reserves the right to audit your use of awarded funds. You are advised to keep a log of all expenses associated with this project, and to save receipts in case an audit is requested for any reason.

Should you fail to undertake or complete your project as planned and presented in your application, immediate notification is required. Full or partial return of awarded funds may be expected.

Please address any questions to the Program Manager for the Southeast Asia Council.

COUNCIL ON SOUTHEAST ASIA STUDIES
YALE UNIVERSITY
P.O. Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
Campus Address: Luce Hall
34 Hillhouse Avenue, Room 311
Tel: 432-3431; Fax: 432-3432
e-mail: seas@yale.edu