Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Application deadline: Friday, March 1, 2024 at 11:59 AM Pacific Time.

Hello, prospective Haas Scholars! Thank you for your interest in participating in the Robert and Colleen Haas Scholars senior capstone experience. You can start preparing your application by following these six steps:

1. Make sure you meet the minimum eligibility requirements and can fulfill the commitments of the program.

2. Meet with the Program Manager to confirm your eligibility, get connected with current scholars, and discuss your project idea.

3. Get a faculty member to sponsor your application and make sure they are eligible to be a Haas Scholars mentor and willing to take on the mentor commitments (see this page). (Hint: Asking for feedback on a draft proposal is a good topic for an initial meeting with potential faculty sponsors.)

4. Prepare for Application: Review this Application Questionnaire PDF to get a sense of the questions that will be required to submit. (Important: the version of this pdf posted before 6 February contained errors in the word/character counts specified for both the ‘Background and Rationale’ and ‘Research Plan and Timeline’ sections. Although these have been corrected now, we recommend drafting your research proposal in the ‘Research Proposal Worksheet’ below. If you made a copy of the pdf before February 6, please check to make sure you are observing the corrected word/character counts for those sections.) Write a rough draft of your project proposal using this Research Proposal worksheet. Please Note: In order to access any materials, you must login from a bMail (berkeley.edu) account. Consider attending an OURS workshop on “Writing a Proposal” (see calendar) to kickstart your writing process. Once you have a draft, get feedback from potential faculty sponsors, other faculty advisors, graduate student mentors, lab supervisors, and the Haas Scholars Program Manager.

5. If your project involves human subjects, review what you need to do to show the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) that you will take steps to protect the privacy and ensure the dignity and safety of your research subjects. Click here to determine if you need to go through CPHS.

6. Gather the application materials you will need to submit (see list below).

A complete application includes:

1. Online application form
2. Haas Scholars Project Proposal
   • Please use this research proposal worksheetto prepare your proposal. You need to be logged in to your bMail (@berkeley.edu account) to access this sheet.
3. Project Budget (see the 24-25 budget template here)
4. Name and email of Faculty Sponsor who will write your academic recommendation. (See “Faculty Eligibility & Commitments”) Please provide your faculty mentor with this Google Form link to upload your recommendation.
5. Name and email of Professional Reference who will write your professional recommendation. This person will be asked to comment on your professional responsibility and follow-through, and your track record as someone who has contributed in a positive way to a group dynamic or team. Please provide your Professional Reference with this Google Form link to provide your recommendation.
6. Your Estimated Family Contribution (in the “View Awards” portion of the “My Finances” tab)
7. PDF of Unofficial Transcript(s). Detailed instructions can be found here .
   • Showing all Berkeley, post-high school grade and all credits accepted by Berkeley that you earned at other institutions
8. PDF of Transfer Credit Report (required of all applicants, including non-transfer students). Detailed instructions can be found here.

Optional:

1. One additional recommendation (either academic or professional).
2. If you are proposing a creative project, a sample of your previous creative work (m ax: 10 images for visual arts; 10 minutes of video; 10 pages of creative writing).
3. Human Subjects documentation (if applicable). A PDF of your Certificate of Completion for the CITI human subjects online training course (click here to determine if you need to go through CPHS). If you are selected, or on the waiting list, and your project is considered high-risk, you must submit your human subjects protocol drafts and final protocols to the Program Director and your faculty sponsor-approved protocol to CPHS by the specified deadlines, or you will be ineligible to be a Haas Scholarearl