These Reed-sponsored opportunities support a range of activities, including independent research, joint research with faculty, travel, creative projects, internships, conference funding and more. Each description includes the point of contact as well as relevant details and application information.
Anthropology Student Fund
Funded by the the Department of Anthropology's Harper-Ellis endowment, the student fund is meant to enhance opportunities for anthropology majors to extend their studies by providing modest support for anthropology-related travel, internships, or research expenses.
Art Internship Awards
The Art Department has set aside funds through the Art Internship Awards (AIA) to help support art majors undertaking an art-related summer internship. This support is available on a competitive basis to any declared major in the department.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Beckman Scholars Program
The Beckman Scholars Program is a sustained (~18 month) mentored research experience. The program funds student-faculty pairs for biochemical engineering-focused projects that begin in the summer after sophomore year (full-time), continue through the junior academic year (part-time), and conclude with the summer after the junior year (full-time). Eligible projects must be conducted with one of the following faculty research mentors: Shivani Ahuja, Mir Bowring, Gonzalo Campillo-Alvarado, Kelly Chacón, Derek Applewhite, Kara Cerveny, Jay Mellies, or Anna Ritz.
Belongingness Intern Recognizing Diversity (BIRD) Fellowship
This fellowship is an opportunity for Reed students within the biology department to engage in a paid summer fellowship centered around student belongingness, especially among students from historically underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized groups (students of color, LGBTQ+, first generation to college, lower income students, and students with disabilities).
Biology Department Summer Opportunities
There are many sources of funding available to provide summer research opportunities to Reed students in biology. Typical awards for all biology department-administered fellowships will include a summer stipend and a smaller fund for supplies or equipment. In some cases, special alternate arrangements may be made in consultation with a faculty member. Because the projects funded by the different available opportunities can vary in the degree to which they require student-driven vs. faculty-driven research, we encourage students to contact potential advisors early. All proposals require an on-campus advisor even if the funds are to be applied to an off-campus opportunity.
Career Advancement Fund 2024–25
Students can apply to receive funding of up to $500 per school year from the Career Advancement Fund (CAF) in support of a range of professional development pursuits. This application is also used to apply for funding from the Thomas Daniel Sophomore Exploration Fund or the Legal Education Access Fund (LEAF).
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Chemistry Department Summer Research Fellowships
Fellowships awarded by the Chemistry Department are intended to support Reed students pursuing special projects in chemistry during the summer months. The projects must be conducted under the guidance of a mentor, but need not be on-campus (for example, these can support off-campus projects with a faculty member from another institution).
Climate Change Research and Education Fund
The Climate Change Research and Education Fund (CCREF) supports unpaid (and underpaid) summer opportunities for student leadership, research, education, and engagement on issues related to climate change adaptation or mitigation. Internships or research opportunities can occur at Reed, another institution, a nonprofit, or in governmental agencies.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
David Adler Theatre Fund
The David Adler Theatre Fund supports theatre research, workshop, and internship opportunities in the summer. All current students are eligible to apply. This fund is the only Reed College grant opportunity administered by the Theatre Department and designated for theatre-based projects. Calls for the Adler will come out each year in March via the Reed Theatre Info email list. Applications are generally due in early April.
Economics Internship Awards
The Economics Internship Awards offer funding to support economics-related unpaid internship opportunities in the summer for economics majors or students with significant coursework in the department.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Economics Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellowship
The Economics Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellowship offers $40,000 in support for one graduating senior or one recent graduate from Reed's economics department each year to participate in an economics-related program or position that would otherwise be unfunded.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Eddings Opportunity Grants for English Majors
Eddings Opportunity Grants are funded as part of a generous bequest from David Eddings, class of 1954, and are dedicated to the support of English majors’ research, scholarship, and writing.
Edward B. Segel Fellowship for International Study
The Edward B. Segel Fellowship for International Study provides support for up to two Reedies per year to attend one year of graduate school in the general area of the disciplines represented in the Division of History and Social Sciences at Reed College. The areas of study should generally fall within the history, politics, economics, or law of international relations and foreign policy; or the history, politics, economics, sociology, anthropology, or law of areas outside the United States and Canada. This fellowship was established by the estate of Professor Ed Segel, who died in 2021 and who taught history at Reed for 38 years.
Apply through Reed Fellowships and Awards Committee
Environmental Studies Summer Experience Fellowship
Environmental Studies Summer Experience Fellowships are intended to support continuing Reed students pursuing environmentally themed summer opportunities. These opportunities might include internships at nonprofit agencies or field research internships/training (on or off campus). A stipend is included for a minimum 10 weeks engagement, with some additional funds possibly available for budgeted travel and supplies.
Esther Hyatt Wender Fund for Collaborative Research in Psychology
Funding is available from the Esther Hyatt Wender Fund to facilitate and financially support summer research in psychology by teams of Reed College faculty and students.
Evan Rose Fund
The Evan Rose Fund was established in memory of a Reed alumnus, Evan Rose ’86, who passed away in 2015. Evan was an award-winning urban designer and architect whose ideas inspired change in cities around the globe. This fellowship supports projects that enable hands-on experience in the field and learning about the power of design and plan-making. The fund has a first preference for projects focusing on urban design and a second preference for projects focusing on related disciplines, such as architecture, the history of city planning and design, and urban planning.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Financial Services Fellowship
The Financial Services Fellowship is an award that gives sophomores who are interested in financial services a hands-on experience through an intensive trip to New York City during spring break. Students will meet with people representing a wide range of roles in this industry, including journalists, sales and trading analysts, investment professionals, hedge fund managers, financial analysts, and more.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
GLAM Department Funding
The GLAM (Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies) Department offers funding to support majors’ research activities and/or further study, both within the U.S. as well as abroad through the Walter Englert Student Opportunity Fund and the Rumpakis/Dussin GLAM Research Fund. These funds are meant to enhance research and educational opportunities for GLAM majors by providing modest support for attendant expenses such as for: the study of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern languages in the U.S. and abroad, and participation on a dig or in field school focused on the study of ancient Mediterranean or Near Eastern material. Funds may also be used for thesis research, faculty-student research, and research trips.
Initiative Grants in Undergraduate Research
The purpose of this program is to enhance thesis research opportunities for students by providing modest support for research expenses. Administered by the Undergraduate Research Committee.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Jane Burbank Fellowship
The Jane Burbank Fellowship helps fund, fully or partially, Reed students' summer study of Russian and other languages of the former USSR. The language study can be undertaken in the U.S. or abroad during the summer.
Jim Kahan Music Performance Summer Fellowship
A generous gift from Jim Kahan '64 has made possible one or more stipends from the Jim Kahan Music Performance Summer Fellowship to enable students to develop or make a major contribution to a music performance during summer break.
John Leonard Adams Fellowship for Collaborative Research in Psychology
The John Leonard Adams Fellowship supports summer research in psychology by teams of Reed College faculty and students focusing on mental health-related topics.
Kaspar T. Locher Summer Creative Scholarships
Scholarships in the amount of $1800 will support independent work in creative writing, visual arts, theater, dance, and music. Recipients will present the results of their summer projects in the fall semester after their summer project.
Apply through Independent Application Process
Legal Education Access Fund (LEAF)
The Reed Legal Network of alumni have established the Legal Education Access Fund (LEAF) to help students with costs related to the LSAT and LSAC, law school application fees, and travel to law school interviews. Applications for this funding are accepted through the normal funding process for the Career Advancement Fund (CAF). When funds allow, it is possible that expenses in excess of the regular $500 CAF maximum per year may be funded. Further funding is not guaranteed, but law school-related requests from all applicants will be considered for as long as funding remains available.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Louis and Annette Kaufman Music Achievement Award
The Kaufman Music Achievement Award supports excellence in music performance at Reed. The award is available by audition to outstanding student musicians regardless of major and will be awarded with a first preference to students of violin or piano. All instrumentalists and vocalists will be considered. Recipients of the award, known as Kaufman Fellows, will receive free music lessons for a year, and the award may be renewed for up to four years.
Mary Barnard Academy of American Poets Prize Contest
A $100 prize is endowed by Reed College in honor of Mary Barnard '32 for the best poem or group of poems submitted by a Reed undergraduate. Current students may submit 1–3 poems by the deadline each year, typically in April.
Mason Student Opportunity Fellowship
The Mason Student Opportunity Fellowship was created with the goal of supporting student projects in any discipline related to the Reed canyon, including projects in the visual and performing arts. This fellowship is open to any project on Reed canyon, but proposals should be designed for a summer of research, defined as 10 weeks of full-time commitment.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Mathematics & Statistics Department Summer Funding
The Mathematics & Statistics Department has established two summer research/reading fellowships: the Emmy Noether Memorial Fellowship, and the Professor Thomas Wieting Mathematics and Physics Student Fellowship Fund. The Wieting fund prioritizes projects in the intersection of mathematics and physics.
Neuroscience Research Fellowship (NRF)
The Neuroscience Research Fellowship is derived from a generous donation from Zeke Koch, a graduate of the Psychology Department in 1995. The fellowship provides a competitive summer stipend. The intent of the program is to benefit Reed interdisciplinary neuroscience students by preparing them for thesis, and graduate school or other avenues to a career in neuroscience.
Opportunity Grants
The purpose of this program is to provide support to undergraduate students in pursuit of academically valuable and pertinent opportunities that arise. The most common use of this grant is to present research at a conference. Administered by the Undergraduate Research Committee.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Post Reed Opportunity Grant (PROG)
The purpose of this program is to provide support to alumni within one year of graduation in pursuit of academically valuable and pertinent opportunities that arise. Opportunities must be based off of the applicant's thesis. The most common use of this grant is to present research at a conference. Administered by the Undergraduate Research Committee.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
President’s Summer Fellowship
The President’s Summer Fellowship (PSF) offers you a chance to think big and take on an 8–10 week summer project that combines intellectual pursuit, imagination, adventure, personal transformation, and service to the greater good. The only limits to this fellowship are your imagination. Applicants are encouraged to consider the high value the college places on critical inquiry, freedom of expression, and exploration of identity, and to look for opportunities to complement and enhance your rigorous academic experience. Fellows receive up to $5,000 toward their summer project. Recipients who receive financial aid from the college will receive an additional $2,000. This will be added automatically and verified with the Financial Aid office. The President's Summer Fellowship is made possible with generous support from Dan Greenberg '62 and Susan Steinhauser.
Apply through Independent Application Process
Reed Arts Grant Experience (RAGE)
This fellowship supports students from the Division of the Arts who seek to engage in original arts history, theory, and/or practice research during the summer. Projects can include research in the studio, archive, and/or rehearsal room, and can be collaborative or solo. Performance/studio projects and history/theory projects are both welcome, as are those that blend genres and approaches. Projects should be grounded in academic rigor and theoretical frameworks. Projects should result in some kind of writing, performance, and/or exhibition of an original nature.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Reed College Science Research Fellowship for Faculty-Student Collaborative Research
Funding is available from the Reed College Science Research Fellowship (RCSRF) to facilitate and financially support summer research by teams of Reed College faculty and students. Administered by the Undergraduate Research Committee.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Rothchild Summer Stipend for Music Study
The Music Department of Reed College will sponsor a stipend for music study during the summer.
Ruby-Lankford Grant Program for Faculty-Student Collaborative Research in the Humanities
The goal of the Ruby-Lankford Grant program is to spur and support interactive summer research engagement of students and faculty. Funds are directed toward initiatives in history, literature, and the humanities. Proposals are expected to be directed explicitly at scholarly research and not at course development. Administered by the Undergraduate Research Committee.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
Simpson Fund for Economics Majors
The Simpson Fund is managed within the economics department. The late William Simpson graduated from Reed in 1942 and went on to a distinguished academic career as an economist. Prior to his death in 1995, Mr. Simpson and his wife Ruth endowed a substantial fund to be used exclusively for the benefit of the Reed Economics Department. The economics faculty has set aside a large share of the Simpson Fund for student support. Examples of the kinds of activities supported by the Simpson Fund in the past are acquisition of costly data for thesis use, partial reimbursement for essential thesis-related travel expenses, and fees and partial travel costs for attending or presenting research at academic conferences. The department may also contribute to registration fees for students who attend academic conferences if the budget allows.
Summer Experience Award
The Summer Experience Award offers Reed students on an F-1 visa the opportunity to complement their academic studies with a summer internship focused on an area of interest and possible future employment.
Apply through Independent Application Process
Summer Internship Awards
The Summer Internship Awards (SIA) offer funding to support unpaid (and underpaid) off-campus internship opportunities: public sector, non-profit, or other unpaid summer internships. These awards are accompanied by a guided reflection process over the summer to help awardees get the most out of their internships. Applicants to the Daniel Healthcare Career Fund in the Summer Internships or Research category (this category supports summer internships and clinical research opportunities at research and healthcare facilities) will also apply through the SIA application.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Summer Opportunity Fellowship Award (SOFA)
The Summer Opportunity Fellowship Award (SOFA) provides funding for a student to pursue academic work with a mentor at another institution/organization for up to 10 weeks over the summer. The purpose of this program is to expose Reed students to new environments and opportunities not available on campus. This program is intended as a learning experience for the student and mentorship should be at the forefront of the project. Students must provide documentation of being accepted to work with a mentor and/or team of researchers at a distant institution/lab by the application deadline.
Apply through Undergraduate Research Committee
The Daniel Healthcare Career Fund
The Daniel Healthcare Career Fund assists students pursuing a career in healthcare. Understanding the monetary challenges often associated with unpaid clinical experiences, the DHCF offers financial backing to those dedicated to the healthcare realm but in need of support. Whether engaging in brief clinical encounters or lengthier internships, Tom Daniel's vision through the DHCF is to ensure that financial barriers don't stand in the way of your journey to a rewarding healthcare profession.
Apply through Center for Life Beyond Reed
Thomas Daniel Sophomore Exploration Fund
The Thomas Daniel Sophomore Exploration Fund is a fund for sophomores to make it easier for you to explore your purpose and is generously funded by Reed parent and Trustee Thomas Daniel. Sophomores can apply to receive funding of up to $500 per school year in support of a range of professional development and career exploration pursuits. Sophomores do not need to have a definite career path to be eligible for this award.