Visit UC Berkeley's Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarships to learn about these and other opportunities.
Haas Scholars Program
Each year the Haas Scholars Program selects twenty highly qualified, academically talented undergraduates who have financial need to form a supportive intellectual community during their final year at UC-Berkeley. Haas Scholars receive close mentoring from members of the UC-Berkeley faculty, and attend seminars and workshops to assist them in the research and writing process, and to provide them an opportunity to present their work at a professional conference. Students may receive up to $12,600 each in financial support.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
SURF L&S provides undergraduates in the College of Letters and Science with funding to undertake concentrated summer research in preparation for a senior thesis or other major capstone project. Fellows receive a summer stipend of $5,000. SURF L&S fellows must be entering their final year or final semester and have no other research funding.
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Awards
FLAS awards enable students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents to acquire a high level of competence in one or more foreign languages. Fellowships (up to $15,000) for the full academic year or summer programs are awarded to students studying a modern foreign language in the US or abroad, with priority given to students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional fields. FLAS grants for Turkish are available through the Institute of European Studies and grants for Tajik and Persian may be available through the Institute of Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. The campus currently does not award FLAS grants for Arabic or Hebrew, although this will hopefully change in the future.
Undergraduate Fellowship in International Studies
The Institute of International Studies offers scholarships of up to $2,000 each to support undergraduate research in any area of international studies. Scholarship recipients may be eligible for additional prizes upon presentation of their research work.
Townsend Center for the Humanities Honors Thesis Workshop
The Townsend Center offers funding and mentorship for students completing a honors thesis in the MELC Department.
The Al-Falah Program in Islamic Studies
The Al-Falah Program supports research, teaching, and outreach projects that focus on building academic and cultural bridges between the United States and the Middle East and broader Islamic world.
The Afaf Kanafani Prize
The Afaf Kanafani Prize is awarded to the best paper by a UC Berkeley student dealing with any topic related to the subject of women in the Arab world.
Andrew Mellon Foundation Conference & Research Grant
Andrew Mellon Foundation grants cover the cost of travel for conference presentations, modern Middle Eastern language study, dissertation research, or faculty projects.
Stevens Scholar Program
The Stevens Scholar Program supports research and travel by undergraduate students who demonstrate a high level of distinction in Middle Eastern Studies. Scholarships up to $5,000 are available to assist students with travel expenses and to support student’s research interest on Middle East related topics or overseas study of Middle Eastern languages.
Sultan Program in Arab Studies
Scholarships up to $1,200 are available to undergraduates working on projects and theses related to Arab Studies. Scholarships may be used to support research or conference travel, overseas or domestic summer Arabic language study, and/or internships.