Mellon Mays Program for Visiting Students

NOTE: We are planning for an in-person 2025 summer program. All participants will be required to show proof of vaccination and eligible booster before coming to campus. For information about COVID-19 policies and restrictions on campus, please visit the UCLA COVID-19 resources website: https://covid-19.ucla.edu/ 

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Writing and Research Training Program at UCLA is a six-week writing and research summer program for 20 current Mellon Mays Fellows from participating Mellon Mays colleges and universities. Fellows participate in a rigorous scholarly writing and research course, individual and group mentoring sessions, workshops, events, and a final research colloquium. The program also includes on-campus housing and a meal allowance.

The summer program is part of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Established in 1988 to address the barriers that result in the problem of underrepresentation in the faculty ranks of higher education, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is committed to supporting a diverse professoriate and to promoting the value of multivocality in the humanities and related disciplines, elevating accounts, interpretations, and narratives that expand present understandings.

If you are interested in the work of our MMUF WRTP students, please click here to see the program for last year’s research symposium.

PROGRAM DETAILS

  • The program is six weeks: Sunday, June 22, 2025 – Saturday, August 2, 2025.
  • The centerpiece of the program is a Research Practice course taught by Dr. Jacquelyn Ardam, one of the co-directors of the Mellon Mays program at UCLA. In the course, students will focus on three vital research skills: reading scholarly writing, writing for scholarly audiences, and presenting research for academic and general audiences. The course will approach reading, writing, and sharing academic research as ongoing, iterative processes. Students in the course will develop their individual research projects while learning skills relevant to researchers at any stage of their research journeys.
  • Participants who successfully complete the course will receive UCLA course credit.
  • Participants have multiple individual and group mentoring sessions each week with the program’s graduate student mentors. The mentoring sessions cover topics including applying to graduate school, careers in the professoriate, professionalism, and academic writing and research skills.
  • Participants will attend weekly lunches with program staff and guest speakers.
  • Please note that while participants will receive guidance on contacting faculty, participants will not be paired directly with faculty mentors. Additionally, the program does not include a GRE prep course.
  • Five of the 20 program spaces will be reserved for Fellows from west coast region Mellon Mays institutions.

ELIGIBILITY AND EXPECTATIONS

  • Applicants from Mellon Mays programs at all participating colleges and universities are encouraged to apply.
  • Applicants must be rising juniors (first-year MMUF students) or seniors (second-year MMUF students). Those who have recently been accepted into MMUF, are on the waitlist, or have recently submitted their application at their home institution, are also welcome to apply.
  • Participants are expected to complete all assignments and participate fully in all activities for the duration of the six-week program.
  • Participants must reside in the on-campus housing provided for the duration of the six-week program.
  • Participants must be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus before they will be allowed on campus and will be required to show proof of vaccination.

COST

Mellon Fellows do NOT have to pay for the summer program. Fellows will be on a meal plan that provides breakfast and dinner at UCLA dining halls, and will be provided with an additional $20 daily stipend for lunch. Fellows will need to cover their own transportation expenses to and from UCLA.

HOW TO APPLY 

The application consists of two parts. Both parts must be received by the deadline in order for the application to be complete. To apply:

  1. Submit the 2024 UCLA MMUF Writing and Research Training Program Application. On your application you will describe (in ~300 words) your research project or prospective research project. You will also specify what you hope to get out of each element of the UCLA MMUF Writing and Research Training Program.
  2. Alert the MMUF coordinator at your home institution that they should submit a coordinator’s recommendation form confirming your participation in the institution’s MMUF program and endorsing your participation in the UCLA Writing and Research Training Program. We will send your coordinator the recommendation form as soon as you submit the two application items above, but it is your responsibility to follow up with your coordinator to make sure the coordinator’s recommendation form is submitted by the deadline.

Applications will be assessed in two rounds. Rising second-year Mellon fellows must submit their applications by March 14, 2025. Rising first-year Mellon fellows—those who have recently been accepted into MMUF, are on the waitlist, or have recently submitted their application at their home institution—must submit their applications by April 7, 2025. Students will be informed of their application status by the end of April 2025.

QUESTIONS?

Undergraduate Research Center –
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
A334 Murphy Hall
Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
(310) 825-2935
urhass@college.ucla.edu