Grants, Fellowships, Internships, and Work Possibilities

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 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--Julia Davis received one and Gayle Christensen received one.
  • CDS International
    This organization manages a panoply of grants and internships to Germany. Go to their website 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 300-500 a month, but they cover airfare, insurance, study costs, etc. You must be between 18-24 and have at least a high school diploma. 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 Studentservice International, which sets you up with the student services organizations at Germany and allows you to develop projects with them.
    • The Robert Bosch award is for people slightly further along in their career paths (aged 23-34), but it's really sweet, so keep it in mind.
  • DAAD
    If you stay in Germany, 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 still take a look at what they have to offer at their website. There are several programs in particular that might interest you:
    • Undergraduate Scholarhip. This is a significant award of 650 Euros a month for 4-10 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. Several Whitman students have won this award in past years:
      • Sarah Sitts (2002/3)
      • Tanya Henderson (2003/4)
      • Cory Ulrich (2005/6)
      The key to this award is timing. To apply for the 20010/11 year, you need to submit your application by January 31, 2011. Attention Sophomores: This means that if you are going to go abroad in the spring of 2012, you still need to apply by January 31, 2011, a full year before you go. But it is still worth it!
    • RISE (Research Internship in Science and Engineering). This is a summer internship for science majors who are good at German. If you win won 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 a month for up to 3 months. You can start applying for one of these in December. Catherine Lewis received one of these in the summer of 2006, and Brian Dafforn had one in the summer of 2007.  Additionally, you can apply to this program and apply to the American Chemical Society's ACS-RISE-IREU Scholarship.  This scholarship replaces the DAAD financial stipend with the same 650 Euros a month up to three 3 months, plus round-trip airfare from Washington DC to the internship, funding for travel to and from Washington DC, orientation in Washington DC and $750 reimbursement for presenting findings at the American Chemical Soceity national meeting.
    • 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 a month.
    • Study Scholarship.  2008 was the first year for this grant.  It funds independent study for a 1- or 2-year masters program in German OR English in a variety of fields, with 750 Euros a 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 in November 1st or 15th, depending on the discipline. 
    • German Studies Research Grant. Provides $1500-$2500 for living and travel costs for 1-2 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 1st, 2010 and March 1st, 2011.
    • Intensive Language Courses in Germany. 1300 Euros for 8 weeks of intensive German courses, intended for grad-students not in the German Studies. 
    • University Summer Course Grant. 3-4 week summer courses in Germany in German in literary, cultural, political or economic aspects of modern and contemporary Germany.
    • 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 6-month professional internship and provides 700 Euros monthly during 6-month semester study, paid internships, health insurance and travel costs. Deadline is February 15th, 2010.
    • internXchange Summer Journalism Internship Program for students with journalism experience.  Six weeks at the Freie Universität for full-day seminars, followed by a five-week internship with a newspaper, magazine, radio station or PR agency. This program grants 650 monthly stipend for housing, health insurance and travel costs. The deadline is January 31st, 2010.
  • 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.
  • 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 reseach 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. In 2008 Grant Margeson and Janna Stone received Fulbright teaching assistantship, and in 2010 Dan Will received one.
    • Research Fulbrights. You are competing with doctoral candidates and other highly advanced students when you apply for these. Nonetheless we have received a number of them over the years as well. 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, what professors would have the most to teach you. Ideally, you would have communicated with a German professor who would be willing to be your advisor.  In 2008 Suzanne Zitzer received a research grant through Fulbright.
    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 as well, 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. In 2006, Mark Prentice won an opportunity to take part in this project, in 2007 Janna Stone did, and in 2009 Dan Will had the opportunity.
  • Grosser Grenzverkehr
    This is a summer internship in the new federal states of eastern Germany, where you work with youth from small towns. The program covers costs for room and board and incidental expenses while there. You have to pay your own airfare. It's a great thing to do right after you junior year abroad! A number of Whitman students have participated in Grosser Grenzverkehr or similar programs, including:
    • Shannon Kirkpatrick
    • Kim Boese
    • Katherine Heard
    • Janna Stone
  • 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. In 2006, Alina Shabashevich and Bethany Coleman both received the chance to take part in these programs in Germany.
  • 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 a month, plus free accomodation, and insurance.  Kyrstin Floodeen got to participate in this internship in 2007.
  • 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.  A $1850 scholarship is included to cover expenses.  Mackenzie Gerringer received this award in 2009
  • 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. The contact person on this would be Professor Takemoto in the Japanese program.
  • WAFTL EXCEL
     The Washington Association for Language Teaching offers up to six $500.00 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. In 2006, Suzanne Zitzer and Cory Ulrich received WAFLT EXCEL awards.
  • The Watson
    I    n 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 want to do this, so it is highly competitive. Like the Fulbright, the Watson requires a personal statement (5 pages) and a project proposal (5 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 Julia Davis in the Fellowships and Grants Office-at least 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 have been able to take part in the Whitman in China program as well. For more on this program, go to the website.
If you know of other grants, fellowships, internships, or work opportunities that we should be aware of, please inform us.
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