Les Aspin 1960 Summer Fellowships

The Les Aspin '60 Summer Fellowships at the Jackson School of Global Affairs provide funding for research projects on international affairs or national security both in the U.S. and abroad. The Fellowship was established by the Yale College Class of 1960 to honor the memory of their classmate, Les Aspin, former member of Congress and United States Secretary of Defense.

Fellowship proposals will be evaluated considering a candidate’s previous educational and work-related accomplishments and experience and how these and the proposed project relate to the candidate’s future goals in international affairs and national security.

Grants will be awarded to sophomores and juniors in Yale College for research projects on international affairs or national security. The projects may be with a U.S. government agency, non-profit corporation or other nongovernmental organization. Normally, Aspin Fellows will conduct their projects during the summer following their sophomore or junior year.

Preference is given to students in the Global Affairs major. Preference is also given for proposals related to diplomacy, defense, intelligence and other arenas of foreign policy. Other relevant issues, broadly interpreted, may include policy related to economic, military, trade, educational, environmental or foreign aid arenas.

Note: Applicants may NOT apply to both the Heinz fellowship and the Les Aspin fellowship

Grants may be used in lieu of earnings and for travel, living and related expenses.

Candidates selected as finalists by the Jackson School of Global Affairs faculty committee will be interviewed by a committee comprised of Yale faculty and representatives from the Yale Class of 1960. Finalists are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with Mr. Aspin's history.

• Please proceed with caution when making plans for the summer and be prepared to alter your project due to travel restrictions. Please be prepared to carry out your project remotely if travel is not possible. Make sure to check the Yale College Travel Policy and entry requirements of your proposed destination (check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy websites)

Application Information: Please note that ONE LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION and a LANGUAGE SELF-EVALUATION FORM are required.

Once you have opened the application, click the *Request icon to enter your recommender's information (contact name and email). Click the Language Evaluation icon to submit the language self-evaluation form.

*Note that to view the Request link, you must have at least filled out the project title and brief description.

Restrictions to Use of Award: IMPORTANT NOTE: All undergraduate students must adhere to the Yale University International Travel Policy.

Yale University policy requires that certain types of research projects involving human subjects be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to the start of the study to ensure that the project meets University Policy and any other applicable regulations. To see if your project needs to be reviewed, for advice on working with human subjects, and for more information about the IRB process and requirements go to http://www.yale.edu/hsc/Investigator/Student_projects.pdf.