Grants and Fellowships

Graduates of the Whitman College German program have been extraordinarily successful at obtaining grants and fellowships. We will send out announcements about grant opportunities to the German listserv and we try to post information about these possibilities on the bulletin board in front of Professor Babilon's office (Olin 335).

The Whitman Fellowships and Grants office is a resource you will want to use.

Grants, fellowships, internships and work possibilities are listed below alphabetically:

• Alexander von Humboldt Gesellschaft
  The Rhodes Scholarship of German is the Alexander von Humboldt Bundeskanzler Award. Technically, you only need a Bachelor’s degree to apply, but most successful applicants are further along. Don’t wait too long, though, as you cannot qualify after you are 30. Whitman College has won two of these - both Julia Davis and Gayle Christensen have received one. 

• Cultural Vistas
  This organization manages a panoply of grants and internships to Germany. Go to their website, culturalvistas.org, and spend some time looking at their programs.
  • One that we have been successful in obtaining is the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, which involves six months of language instruction and education at a university, plus five months in an internship. You need to cover your living expenses of 300 to 500 per month, but they cover airfare, insurance, study costs etc. You must be between 18 and 24 and have at least a high school diploma. The deadline for application is December 1, and you start up the following summer. Rachel Wecker received a Congress-Bundestag award, which led to a stay of several years in Berlin.
  • Another interesting one is the Cultural Vistas Fellowship for underrepresented university students to take part in eight-week internships in Berlin. They cover airfare, accommodations and various seminars.
  • There is also a Summer Internship Program in Germany, which consists of a two- or three-month internship, with the option of a one-month language course.
  • And there's is a year-round Internship Program in Germany, which includes paid internships ranging between three and 12 months.
  • Cultural Vistas also has information on and helps with Work Authorization Services for Interns and Trainees who take up positions in Germany and Switzerland. There are rolling deadlines for these applications.
  • The Robert Bosch award is for people slightly further along in their career paths (aged 23 to 34), but it’s worth keeping it in mind.

• DAAD
  Whether you are interested in research, study or an internship, you will want to keep track of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Office). They are a veritable gravy train of grants and internships. Many are designed for people who are a little bit further on in their academic or career lives than graduating seniors but take a look at what they have to offer at their website. There are several programs in particular that might interest you:
  • Undergraduate Scholarship. This is a significant award of 650 euros per month for 4 to 10 months, plus additional money for travel and other expenses. It is not need-based. You can use it to help cover your costs while you study abroad in your junior year. If you went to Germany for a year, the total award could be well over $7000. The key to this award is timing. To apply for a given year, you need to submit your application by January 31 the prior year. Attention sophomores: This means that if you are going to go abroad in the spring of your junior year, you still need to apply by January 31 this year - a full year before you go. But it is still worth it: several Whitman students have won this award in the past years, including:
    • Sarah Sitts, 2002-2003
    • Tanya Henderson, 2003-2004
    • Cory Ulrich, 2005-2006
    • Karah Kemmerly, fall 2012
  • RISE (Research Internship in Science and Engineering). This is a summer internship for science majors. If you win one of these you get to work in a lab in Germany in the summer, helping both your German and your science credentials. It comes with a stipend of 650 euros per month for up to three months. You can start applying for one of these in December. Award winners from Whitman include:
    • Catherine Lewis, summer 2006
    • Brian Dafforn, summer 2007
    • Katie Gray, summer 2014 
  • Study Scholarship. 2008 was the first year for this grant. It funds independent study for a one- or two-year masters program in German or English in a variety of fields, with 750 euros per month plus travel and health insurance. Mark Prentice received one to pursue an M.A. in American Studies at the Kennedy Institute of Berlin’s Freie Universität. The application deadline is November 1 or 15, depending on the discipline.
  • German Studies Research Grant. This grant provides $1500 to $2500 for living and travel costs for one to two months of research of cultural, political, historical, economic and social aspects of modern and contemporary German affairs from an inter- and multi-disciplinary perspective. Deadlines are November 1 and March 1.
  • Intensive Language Courses in Germany. This grant provides 1300 euros for eight weeks of intensive German courses, intended for graduate students not in the field of German Studies.
  • University Summer Course Grant. Three- to four-week summer courses in Germany, taught in German, on literary, cultural, political or economic aspects of modern and contemporary Germany. Examples of award winners from Whitman include:
    • Katie Davies, 2010
    • Kevin Dyer, 2012
    • Jade Blake-Whitney, Hanne Jensen and Karah Kemmerly, 2013
    • Clint Vorauer, 2014 
  • Study and Internship Program (SIP). Eligible majors include science, economics, fine arts and social work. The program includes a full semester of study at a German university followed by a six-month professional internship, and provides 700 euros monthly during a six-month semester study, paid internships, health insurance and travel costs. The annual deadline is February 15.
  • internXchange Summer Journalism Internship Program for students with journalism experience. Six weeks at the Freie Universität Berlin for full-day seminars, followed by a five-week internship with a newspaper, magazine, radio station or PR agency. This program grants 650 euros monthly stipend for housing, health insurance and travel costs. The annual deadline is January 31. Past recipients include:
    • Caitlin Hardee, summer 2012
• Delta Phi Alpha
  If you are a member of Delta Phi Alpha, the German National Honor Society, you may apply for their Sophomore-Junior grant or Senior grant.
  
  • Sophomore-Junior Award. This $1500 award supports study abroad during your junior academic year or during the summer. For summer study, note that if you apply during the sophomore year you may use the award for study in the summer prior to your junior year, and if you apply during your junior year you may use the award in the summer before your senior year.
  • Senior Grant. This is a $2500 award for study abroad or research abroad after graduation and is intended for students who will begin graduate school immediately upon return to the U.S. You should apply during the fall of your junior year.
• EMGIP Bundestag Internship. This is a two-month internship at the Bundestag for politically-aware students and recent graduates (up to age 32). It pays over 1000 euros per month.

• Fulbrights
  Many students from our program have received Fulbrights to Germany and other countries. There are two kinds: teaching Fulbrights and research Fulbrights.
  • Teaching Fulbrights. These involve working as an English native speaker in a school in Germany. They are easier for Whitman students to get than the research scholarships, as recent German majors who are interested in teaching German in the future are a primary target audience of the program. Successful applications usually demonstrate an interest in education as a career and a passion for German. In addition, it is helpful to have a project on the side that will take up your spare time. Several Whitman students have won these in past years:
    • Lindsay Satterlund, 2006
    • Kyle Martz and Tanya Henderson, 2007
    • Grant Margeson and Janna Stone, 2008
    • Dan Will, 2010
    • Isabel Hong, 2011
    • Kayla Foster and Mackenzie Gerringer, 2012
    • Hanne Jensen and Karah Kemmerly, 2014
  • Research Fulbrights. You are competing with doctoral candidates and other highly advanced students when you apply for a research Fulbright. Nonetheless, we have received a number of them over the years. To get a research Fulbright, you need to have a clear research project. As graduating seniors, your project is expected to take place primarily at the university (i.e., not doing field work or other independent work). You should have a clear sense of where your research would fit into the German academic scene, what universities offer the best courses in your field and which professors would have the most to teach you. Ideally, you would have communicated with a German professor who would be willing to be your adviser.
    • Suzanne Zitzer received a research grant through Fulbright in 2008.
  • In addition to the German Fulbrights, there are also Fulbrights to Austria, Switzerland and the European Union, so take a look at any of these programs as well. And graduates of the Whitman German program have also received Fulbrights to countries such as New Zealand and South Korea, so think broadly about these possibilities! The Whitman College internal deadline for Fulbrights is in late September, so you will want to be thinking about your proposals over the summer.
• The Grad School Experience
  This is a program designed to help students think about the possibility of graduate school in German Studies. It’s an all-expenses paid one-week seminar at the graduate school level at the University of Pennsylvania, the school with the oldest German department in the country. Examples of Whitman recipients include:
  • • Mark Prentice, 2006
    • Janna Stone, 2007
    • Dan Will, 2009 
• Humanity in Action
  Humanity in Action sponsors all-expenses-paid summer programs on international human rights and many of their programs have a German connection. They would be of especial interest for those of you with a focus on law, human rights or the Holocaust. They also have internship programs. Whitman recipients include:
  • • Alina Shabashevich and Bethany Coleman, 2006 
• Internationales Parlaments-Praktikum
  This is a five-month internship at the Bundestag, designed for graduates with good German abilities and an interest in political affairs. Recent graduates from all over the world participate, so you get to meet people from everywhere. You apply for this in May of your senior year, after you have graduated, and get to go to Germany in the following April. It comes with a stipend of 450 euros per month, plus free accommodation and insurance. Whitman recipients include:
  • • Kyrstin Floodeen, 2007
• JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program
  Kim Boese is an example of a Whitman German major who was able to participate in the JET Program, which provides opportunities for recent college graduates to teach English in Japan. If you're interested in the JET Program, contact Professor Takemoto in the Japanese program.
• Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
  This summer internship in the sciences takes place at the University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen University: Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen). In addition to the research opportunity, students take languages courses and participate in workshops. An $1850 scholarship is included to cover expenses. Whitman recipients include:
  • • Mackenzie Gerringer, 2009
• U.S. English Language Teaching Assistantship Program in Austria
  This provides U.S. college graduates with opportunities to work at secondary schools throughout Austria as teaching assistants. It’s financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, the Arts and Culture (BMUKK) and administered by the Austrian-American Educational Commission (Fulbright Commission). (While the participants in this program contribute to the Fulbright goal of promoting mutual understanding, this is not a Fulbright grant program.)
  • • Katie Steen, 2016
    • Clint Vorauer, 2016
    • Jea Alford, 2010
• WAFTL EXCEL
  The Washington Association for Language Teaching
  WAFTL EXCEL offers up to six $500 scholarships each year to Washington residents taking advanced world language courses at the university level. The award is merit-based rather than need-based. The application deadline is in March. Whitman recipients include:
  • • Suzanne Zitzer and Cory Ulrich, 2006
• The Watson
  In addition to the Fulbright, some of you might be interested in the Watson. The Watson gives you $22,000 to travel the world, independently, pursuing a passion. Obviously, a lot of people are interested, so it is highly competitive. Like the Fulbright, the Watson requires a personal statement (five pages) and a project proposal (five pages). The deadline for the Watson is also quite early, so you will want to be thinking about it over the summer as well. Generally, the Watson Foundation emphasizes "stretch" - they are not interested in sending you back to do something you already did. So if you are interested in applying for a Watson, think about how you can build on, not repeat, your experiences in Germany. A good strategy might be to develop a project that begins in Germany, makes use of some of the contacts that you have developed there, and then moves on to other countries. To apply for one of these, contact Keith Raether in the Fellowships and Grants Office by your junior year. The deadline for applications is early in the senior year.
• Whitman in China
  Sarah Sitts and Kristin Cain are examples of students who have majored or minored in German and have been able to take part in the Whitman in China program as well. 

If you know of other grants, fellowships, internships or work opportunities that we should be aware of, please inform us.