Step 1: Eligibility and Deadline
To be eligible for consideration as a Davidson Fellow, applicants must:
- Be 18 or younger as of the application deadline to be eligible.
- Be a U.S. citizen residing in the United States, or a Permanent Resident of the United States residing in the United States, or be stationed overseas due to active U. S. military duty.
- There is no minimum age for eligibility.
- Teams of two are eligible. Both team members must meet eligibility requirements.
- Please check out this Frequently Asked Questions video with information on eligibility, category requirements, and application tips!
Davidson Fellows must be available to attend, with one parent or guardian, the awards reception and other recognition events to be held in September in Washington, DC. (Travel expenses and lodging will be provided by the Institute.)
Step 2: Review Category Requirements and Project Criteria
Project Criteria
Scholarships are awarded on the basis of significant work. Significant work is an accomplishment that experts in the field recognize as meaningful and has the potential to make a positive contribution to society. Such work may be:
- an exceptionally creative application of existing knowledge
- a new idea with high impact
an innovative solution with broad-range implications - an important advancement that can be replicated and built upon
- an interdisciplinary discovery
- a prodigious performance
- another demonstration of extraordinary accomplishment
Information for teams:
- Teams may be no more than two people.
- Both team members must be 18 or younger as of the application deadline.
- Both team members must attend any in-person awards events.
- Scholarship money will be split evenly between the two team members.
- As with solo submissions, two nominators are required.
Please note: Projects in the arts including photography, sculpture, film, visual, etc. are not eligible for consideration.
The Davidson Institute is looking for students whose projects are at, or close to, the college graduate level with a depth of knowledge in their particular area of study. This scholarship is not geared toward students at the novice level. See specific Scholarship Category Requirements.