Greater Good - The Science of a Meaningful Life

Here are some questions we often receive about our fellowship program. If you have a question not answered here, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) it to us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), with Fellowship Question as the subject.

Q: Must applicants be enrolled in UC Berkeley to be considered for a fellowship?

A: Yes, applicants must be enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students at UC Berkeley for the entire funding period—i.e., the next academic year—in order to be considered for and receive GGSC fellowship funding.

Applicants must also plan to be in the UC Berkeley area for at least half of the fellowship period.

Q: Are postdoctoral researchers or graduate students on filing fee eligible to apply?

A: No. Although we have offered a post-doc fellowship in the past, we are not offering one this year.

Q: Is the money to be spent entirely on research related expenses, or can it be used to cover living expenses as well?

A:  The fellowship funding is for research-related expenses only, which do not include basic living costs (e.g., housing and food).

Q: Does the fellowship committee look for applications from a particular major?

A: No. Although the GGSC’s main areas of focus—positive emotions, pro-social behavior—are most often covered by research in psychology, sociology, education, and neuroscience, we encourage applications from a wide variety of fields. Past fellows have come from many different departments, including public health, political science, journalism, and jurisprudence & social policy.

Q: Must the adviser on the project be the same person who writes the letter of recommendation for the application?

A:  No. The letter of recommendation can come from anyone who can speak to the applicant’s qualifications for this fellowship. The adviser must be someone who will oversee the work funded by the fellowship.

Q: If I intend to submit my application electronically, how should my adviser submit his or her letter of recommendation?

A: Advisers should email their letter to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), with “Fellowship Recommendation” in the subject line. They can also send the letter by mail to: Greater Good Science Center, Attn: Ann Shulman, UC Berkeley, 2425 Atherton Street, Berkeley, CA 94720-6070.

Q: Should the 1,000-word research proposal include the brief description of how I intend to spend the fellowship?

A: No, your research proposal is separate from your brief description of expenses. The description of expenses isn’t counted as part of those 1,000 words.