Undergraduate students at the University of Washington who are passionate about research have a golden opportunity to receive financial support for their work. The Mary Gates Research Scholarship for Autumn 2025 is now open for applications, and it’s your chance to deepen your academic exploration with the help of funding and mentorship.
What Is the Mary Gates Research Scholarship?
The Mary Gates Research Scholarship is designed to support University of Washington undergraduate students who are actively involved in research under the guidance of a faculty member. It helps students focus more on their projects by easing financial pressure. With this support, students can spend more time working closely on a topic of their choice in fields like social sciences, arts, humanities, and beyond.
What Does the Scholarship Offer?
- Award Amount: $5,000
- Disbursement: Two equal installments of $2,500
- Award Period Options: Students may choose two quarters (Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn) to receive the award. Seniors graduating in one quarter may request a single $2,500 payment.
- Number of Scholarships: Over 100 Research Scholarships and 50+ Leadership Scholarships will be awarded during this application cycle.
Who Can Apply?
- Must be a full-time undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor’s degree at UW Seattle, Bothell, or Tacoma campuses during the award period.
- Can apply even if not full-time in Autumn 2025 (the application quarter).
- Must be engaged in a research project with faculty by the time the award period begins (not necessarily at the time of application).
- Students enrolled in at least one credit in Summer can still receive their award for that term.
- Students may apply for more than one Mary Gates scholarship but can only receive one (01) per quarter.
- Past recipients of the Research Scholarship may apply again, though with added evaluation criteria. A student can receive a maximum of two (02) Research Scholarships and a total of three Mary Gates scholarships overall.
Additional Expectations
Awardees are required to:
- Stay actively involved with their research and faculty mentor during the award period.
- Be a full-time student (or one-credit during summer).
- Complete a short survey each award quarter.
- Present their research at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in May.
Apply: https://expd.uw.edu/mge/apply/research/
Application Timeline – Don’t Miss These Dates!
The Mary Gates Research Scholarship follows a single yearly application cycle. Here are the key dates:
- Application Opens: August 4, 2025, at 12:00 PM
- Application Deadline: October 20, 2025, at 5:00 PM
- Letter of Recommendation Deadline: October 22, 2025, at 5:00 PM
This will be the only application cycle for the 2025–2026 academic year, so students are strongly encouraged to apply within this window.
