Leave Term Grants

Grants to enable students to engage in full time research during a leave term.

Program Description

Leave term grants enable students to fully immerse themselves in research during a leave term:

  • This research commitment would be equivalent to a full load of classes during a residence term.
  • Students who will have other significant time commitments during their leave term are not eligible to apply.
  • Grants are to cover cost of living during the leave term and/or travel if the project involves field research away from campus.
  • Funding is not awarded to compensate students for the time they spend on the research.

Students must be intellectually engaged and play a key role in the project: 

  • Students who will be serving as research assistants on faculty projects may apply for part-time research assistantship programs such as Presidential Scholars or URAD.
  • Priority will be given to students who have been engaged in research with their faculty research mentor prior to the leave term.

Students must be working directly with a Dartmouth College faculty mentor:

  • This includes faculty at the College, Geisel School of Medicine, Tuck School of Business, and Thayer School of Engineering. Please contact Undergraduate Research if you have questions about your advisor's eligibility to supervise your research.
  • Students doing research with faculty at other (non-Dartmouth) institutions are not eligible for research grants.

Students may engage in the research on campus or elsewhere but there must be a rationale for the location of the research:

  • On-campus: the purpose is often to work with your faculty mentor in person but may also involve access to facilities and resources (labs, equipment, archives, etc.)
  • Off-campus research: the purpose can vary but is often related to access to archives, interview subjects, field sites, etc.

Group projects are welcomed. Students planning to apply as a group are encouraged to meet with UGAR prior to submitting an application. 

  • The research must be directly mentored by a Dartmouth faculty member. 
  • Applicants should check the eligibility requirements to ensure that all members of the group are eligible to apply.

Stipends are paid prior to the term of research.

  • $100 is withheld from the initial payment and will be released once the end of term student confirmation form (including the final report) and the faculty confirmation form are received.
  • More information about payments are are on the UGAR stipend webpage.

Additional information

The student section of the website includes additional information about grants:

  • Eligibility
  • Priorities for funding
  • Deadlines

Important notes for faculty:

  • These grants are competitive and not all students will be awarded funding.
  • Be sure that your responses to the questions on the recommendation form provide sufficient information as faculty input about the quality of the project and the ability of the student to conduct the research are key factors in funding decisions.
  • In the recommendation form, faculty confirm that they will complete the end of term evaluation form about the student's research experience. Students applying to work with faculty who have not completed the end of term forms for previous UGAR-funded students will be lower priority for funding.