MELC Fellowships

*The application requirements for MELC Fellowships have been simplified as of December 2024 so please read carefully below before applying*

The deadline for priority consideration for fellowships for the following academic year is APRIL 15. Students should apply for all categories of fellowships for which they believe they might be qualified.

All applications should be submitted online. Click on the application form of the fellowship you wish to apply for.

After submitting this form, please email attachments (Word or PDF) to melcuw@uw.edu

The email subject should contain your last name and the name of the fellowship (Smith_Roshan). All attachments should be labeled LastName_FellowshipName_Document.

Example: Smith_Roshan_CoverLetter

Letters of recommendation (Word or PDF) should be emailed directly to melcuw@uw.edu by the instructor/professor. DO NOT submit your own letters of recommendation.

*We do not receive mailed materials*

Fellowships for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Doctoral Students

Michael A. Williams Award for Excellence

This fund provides $1,000 support for majors, minors, and MA students in the MELC department. To be awarded each Spring.

Application Materials Needed:

  1. An unofficial UW transcript
  2. A research paper or an annotated translation, in English.

Hooshang Afrassiabi Student Prize in Persian Studies

Since 1999 the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington has awarded annually the Hooshang Afrassiabi Student Prize in Persian Studies.

Hooshang Afrassiabi passed away on February 14, 1998. He and his family had by that time lived for almost two decades in Seattle, having moved to the U.S. after the 1979 revolution in Iran. Mr. Afrassiabi's advanced degrees in Iran had included a focus on administration and government affairs, and he had a distinguished career in government service, including the position of Mayor of the lovely city of Shiraz. But his undergraduate education there had been in Persian literature, a love that he was to cherish for the rest of his life. In 1999 his three sons, all alumni of the UW in various fields, began the establishment of an endowment in their father's name. The endowment supports the annual Afrassiabi Distinguished Lectureship in Persian Studies, and also the annual student prize.

Thanks to the generosity of the Afrassiabi family, each academic year the sum of $1,000 will be presented to a student at UW who has followed a rigorous course of study in Persian Studies at MELC. Selection is based on student performance, GPA, and research.

Application Materials Needed

  1. A cover letter of less than two pages describing your accomplishments in Persian and Iranian Studies and any plans for future study and/or research in the field.
  2. An unofficial UW transcript

Naficy Award in Persian Studies

Each academic year the sum of $2,000 will be presented to an outstanding undergraduate at UW who has followed a rigorous course of study in Persian Studies at MELC. Selection is based on student performance, GPA, and research. To be awarded each Spring.

Application Materials Needed

  1. A cover letter describing your accomplishments in Persian and Iranian Studies and any plans for future study and/or research in the field.
  2. An unofficial UW transcript

Fellowships for Graduate and Doctoral Students

Maurice and Lois Schwartz Fellowship

The Schwartz fellowship is designed to help support graduate students with international study during their degree program. The normal amounts for Schwartz fellowships are $1,500 (for one quarter), though under exceptional circumstances two-quarter $4,000 fellowships have been awarded. The international study need not involve a full quarter of study. Some recipients in the past have proposed shorter periods of study with targeted goals (e.g., gathering of research data for an academic project; study in an intensive language program of more limited duration). First priority given to students in the MELC M.A. program. Students must be enrolled as UW students in the quarter in which the award is distributed. Funds available for study from Summer - Spring, each academic year.

Application Materials Needed:

  1. An unofficial UW transcript
  2. A description (less than 2 pages) of the proposed study or research abroad. Include a description of the nature of the study, country, location(s), anticipated dates of stay, and the way in which a Schwartz fellowship would be used.
  3. A letter of reference from your principal dissertation advisor

The Turkish and Ottoman Literature Endowed Fellowship

This fellowship awards a stipend up to $15,000 for the academic year. Applicants must be graduate students at the University of Washington whose major field of study is Turkish and/or Ottoman literature and who hold a 3.50 GPA or higher in their major and a 3.26 overall GPA. While any graduate student may apply, the fellowship is awarded preferentially to Ph.D. students.

Application Materials Needed:

  1. An unofficial UW transcript
  2. A cover letter (less than 2 pages) with an explanation of your dissertation research
  3. A letter of reference from your principal dissertation advisor

Fellowships for Doctoral Students

(Note: MELC does not have a Ph.D. program)

Roshan Institute Fellowship for Excellence in Persian Studies

Stipend awards up to $15,000 per academic year. This fellowship is earmarked for doctoral (Ph.D.) students at the University of Washington whose focus is on any aspect of Persian language and literature and Iranian culture and civilization, broadly defined, and who are already engaged in writing their dissertation. It is intended, especially, to support outstanding Ph.D. students in the latter stages of their dissertation writing. A student may not receive this fellowship more than once.

Application Materials Needed

  1. A cover letter describing your accomplishments in Persian and Iranian Studies and any plans for future study and/or research in the field.
  2. An unofficial UW transcript
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