Guidelines for Completing your Research Application

In your own voice, describe your project so that someone outside your discipline can follow your train of thought, and someone in your discipline recognizes the methods and approach you are using to explore your topic. Include in your essay: 

• your motivation and interest in this work; 

• what your work will contribute to your area of study; 

• your plan and methods to complete this work in the quarter(s) of award;

• the mentorship you will be receiving throughout your proposed project 

• • If you and your mentor(s) are collaborating on this project, please include how you work together and how your project and the mentorship you receive will allow you to grow as a researcher. 

• • If your project is a more independent effort, please include how your mentor(s) and other available resources will support your growth in your research endeavors. 

Essays should be a maximum of three pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins); in-text citations are included in the three-page limit. One additional page may be included for references, images, or figures, if applicable; this optional page of supplemental material is not included in the page limit. Images, figures and your short bibliography should all be included in the supplemental page. Please UPLOAD your essay as a PDF. Thank you. 

It is very important that reviewers get a sense of your passion and understanding for your project. Do not cut and paste from papers or other proposals – it will be obvious to reviewers if you do and it will not convey your own understanding of your research. Write clearly and in your own voice describing your project and its relationship to research in your field of study.

Be sure to talk about the project itself as well as why this research matters. As you are writing the personal side of the essay it may help in your draft to tell the story of your motivations for getting involved. But in your final essay, pull out only those points that are relevant to your current experience.

Your essay should convey an interest and commitment to the research. Awards cover either one or two quarters (depending on how many quarters of award you apply for) – be sure that your essay provides evidence that you will stick with the project for that period of time, and that the project has enough depth to keep you engaged during that period. Reviewers will find your interest or passion in the research compelling, so find a way to convey that in your essay.

Acknowledge your prior application/award and cite the major learning goals you will set for yourself with this new application. Reviewers will want to know what you have already accomplished, as well as your plans for the new award period.

It is important that reviewers learn how you are contributing to the research, particularly if you have a role in a larger, ongoing project. Depending on your project and research areas, you may have collaborators, but you should still make clear what your specific responsibilities and goals are for the research project you are proposing.

Mentorship is an important component of this scholarship. If you and your mentor(s) are collaborating on this project, please include how you work together and how your project and the mentorship you receive will allow you to grow as a researcher. How does/do your mentor(s) guide you so that you gain the perspective of the larger project as you contribute your work to it? If your project is a more independent effort, please include how your mentor(s) and other available resources will support your growth in your research endeavors. 

Include enough detail to convey your knowledge of the topic and so that reviewers can imagine what you are doing. Reviewers will be from a variety of fields, so it is best to address your essay to an intelligent non-expert. Define field-specific terminology and be sure to give the big picture of your research area. It will also be important to include enough detail that someone in your discipline will have confidence that you understand the field in which you are working well enough to be able to contribute to the project in a meaningful way.

One of the goals of the Mary Gates Endowment is to invest in scholarships that help students achieve their educational goals. Starting in Autumn 2025, the application will include an impact question.

Prompt for the impact question

In one page (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins) please describe how the research, scholarly or creative work you plan to pursue during your award period enhances your education and the development of your future plans. Please also include how receiving the scholarship will benefit you and your growth as a researcher through your project. 

In this answer, you should include: 

• Your future goals and how this research will help you achieve them. Think about specific skills you are gaining from your research, as well as the mentorship you will receive, and how they will move you closer to the goals you envision for yourself. 
• A description of how the financial award will allow you to engage in your project and how the scholarship and becoming a Mary Gates Scholar will enhance your educational experiences at UW and beyond.  

Please UPLOAD your answer as a PDF. Thank you. 

Essays should be a maximum of three pages. Essays should be double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. You may include one additional page for references, images, or figures, if applicable; this one additional page of supplementary material is not included in the page limit and may be formatted differently as long as it is clear and legible. If you are using figures or images, make sure to include a caption.

The impact answer should be a maximum of one page. The same formatting of the essay applies: double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins.

If you refer to a figure, graph or image in your essay that is not your own, be sure to credit the source. Essays with figures, graphs or images lacking proper citations may impact the evaluation of your application. You are welcome to use the citation style that is common in your discipline/area of research. Information on proper citation format can be found at:

• UW Libraries Citations Guide
• Odegaard Writing Research Center Resources

Please refrain from citing excessive sources not relevant to your project.

Your mentor will provide you with the best feedback on your essay’s representation of the research you are doing and how it fits into a larger framework. Someone else – a peer, another instructor, or adviser – will be able to tell you if your essay is clear to an intelligent non-expert, and if you have conveyed a sense of enthusiasm and commitment for the work you describe. Be sure to leave yourself enough time to get feedback from these key people before submitting your application. Always provide your readers with the prompt and review criteria.

If you would like to discuss your application/proposed research project with a Mary Gates team member before submitting, we highly encourage you to schedule an advising appointment with us.

We host application workshops that applicants are encouraged to attend. These workshops will give applicants more in-depth advice on how to structure their application materials and what to include. Applicants are asked to bring a draft of their application to the workshop as well, as there is allotted time for peer reviews and for applicants to ask specific questions pertaining to their project/application. Register here for our application workshops!

We expect that previous awardees have a deeper than average understanding of their research, are working at a high level, and can clearly articulate previous accomplishments as well as opportunities for new learning and achievements during a second award period.  We also expect a strong connection between the research and a student’s longer-term goals.

Be sure to describe your role in the research, and how it may have changed since your prior award. What new challenges do you need to overcome to take your work to a higher level? Will you be taking on additional responsibilities? If you are starting a whole new project and/or working with a new mentor, you may want to address the reason for the change, how the new experience will provide new opportunity for learning, and how your new mentor will contribute to that learning.