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Seidel Scholars Summer Grant 2026 Application

University of Chicago – Career Advancement
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Seidel Scholars Grant Application

Description:

You came to UChicago for the ‘Life of the Mind.’ You have found an intellectual passion in your major. This summer, take whatever you love about your major, and do nothing else. See where your dreams and experiences take you.

Thanks to a generous donation from Larry R. and Kathleen Gilles Seidel, the Seidel Scholars Grant funds four $4,000 awards giving students the opportunity to spend 8-10 weeks during the summer exploring a career-related, individual project connected to their academic passion. Students officially declared as a major in one of the following departments (Anthropology, Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Human Development, Comparative Literature, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English Language and Literature, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Germanic Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Linguistics, Media Arts and Design, Medieval Studies, Music, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Religious Studies, Philosophy/Allied Fields, Psychology, Political Science, Romance Languages and Literatures, Russian and Eastern European Studies, Sociology, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts) are eligible to apply for the Seidel Scholars Grant.

The grant sponsors innovative and novel professional experiences designed by the applicant, essentially allowing students to create their own “non-traditional internship”. Each professional experience should result in a tangible final project. This project should creatively put some aspect of the student’s major (methodologies, research interests, etc.) into practice. Some previous examples of Seidel projects include writing novels, curating museum exhibits, filming documentaries, and researching family histories. The grant does not fund unpaid internships, classes or projects that are exclusively academic (students may partake in an apprenticeship for the beginning half of the summer if additional knowledge is necessary in order to successfully complete the final project). All grant recipients will be required to complete a post-experience reflection essay and submit a copy of their final project.

The deadline for the 2026 Seidel Scholars Grant is Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 11:59pm. Professional Mentor Agreement Forms can be submitted using the wufoo form below.

 

Submit the Following to Handshake

  1. Resume
  2. Cover Sheet & Project Proposal (please use standard document provided in the posting) & Project Proposal
    1. Coversheet/Project Proposal (See attached) should be 2 pages single-spaced maximum, will be judged as a writing sample.
  3. Unofficial Transcript
  4. Optional Work Sample
  • Optional Work Sample (not required, but highly encouraged)
  • If you would like to submit a brief sample of your work either written (2 page maximum), audio (under 5 min), or visual, submissions should be sent directly to Nely Rentas de Romo (nrentas@uchicago.edu) on or before the application deadline (11:55pm on March 15, 2026)

Complete the following External Forms

  1. Professional Mentor Agreement Form: please have mentor submit this Mentor Form by March 15, 2026 
  2. Declaration of Intent to Major Form (first years only): https://careeradvancement.wufoo.com/forms/z1pxq6d50mn3kup

Additional Guidelines:

  • First, second, and third year students in the College may apply
  • Proposed projects must be related to the student’s major and professional goals. Students should not be based in an academic setting and should not exclusively be pursuing a structured internship, travel or volunteer program (students cannot receive pay for any shadowing or intern work completed).
  • Applicants who have a full-time internship, accept a Metcalf Internship or similar University/College-funded opportunity or grant for the 2026 summer are not eligible to receive a Seidel Scholars Grant.
  • It is recommended that application materials be reviewed by a member of the Career Advancement Staff.

 

Applications for any domestic or international location will be accepted consistent with University guidelines.

The University of Chicago’s working assumption is that travel to countries or regions with a U.S. Department of State Level 3 or Level 4 Advisory is not permitted for undergraduate participants. We also use as indicators the advisory levels published by the Centers for Disease Control and our emergency provider, International SOS. Thus, if the country or region to which travel is contemplated is listed as Level 3 or 4 in the State Department’s travel advisories OR has a warning level 3 from the Centers for Disease Control OR has an International SOS risk rating of High or Extreme, travel is assumed to be prohibited. Students may petition for an exemption.

For questions regarding the petition process, please contact Chiara Montanari at chiaram@uchicago.edu. 

For country-specific information, reference:

If a student is awarded a Seidel Scholars stipend for an on-site internship in a restricted country or region, they must successfully petition the University for an exemption to this policy in order to receive their funding. All petitions will be reviewed by the Study Abroad Risk and Security Assessment Committee (SARSAC).

  • SARSAC will only give exemptions to students who had existing travel plans to return to their home countries/countries where they have long-term residence permits, and have now secured an internship there. Students will need to indicate as well that they will not need to apply for a work permit in such situations. Exemptions will not be given for new trips. As part of the petition, students will be required to submit a budget worksheet indicating that any grant stipend they receive will not be used to travel to the site of an internship outside the U.S.
  • If an exemption is given, students may not use University funds to purchase international airfare or other international travel arrangements.

Questions about the Seidel Grant in general? Please contact: Nely Rentas de Romo at nrentas@uchicago.edu.

Applicants MUST Have Declared One of the Following Majors:

Anthropology, Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Human Development, Comparative Literature, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English Language and Literature, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Germanic Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Linguistics, Media Arts and Design, Medieval Studies, Music, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Religious Studies, Philosophy/Allied Fields, Psychology, Political Science, Romance Languages and Literatures, Russian and Eastern European Studies, Sociology, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts