Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship Program, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics in the United States, seeks to identify and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming this Nation’s next generation of research leaders in these fields.

Each scholarship covers eligible expenses for undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500 annually.

Institutional Nomination

This scholarship does not accept direct applications; students must be nominated by UCA.  Please see below for application instructions for nomination.

Campus Deadline

November 15 annually

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

To be eligible for nomination for a Goldwater Scholarship, a student must:

Be a full-time matriculated sophomore or junior pursuing a degree at an accredited 2- or 4-year institution of higher education during the 2020-2021 academic year,
Intend to pursue a research career in a natural science, mathematics or engineering,
Have a college grade point average of at least a 3.00 on a 4.00 scale (Note: competitive candidates typically have over a 3.8 GPA),
Be a U.S. citizen from the 50 states or the District of Columbia; a U.S. national for those students nominated by institutions in Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; or a permanent resident. A permanent resident must submit a photocopy of their Permanent Resident Card, also known as the Green Card.
While research in medicine is not supported by the Goldwater, future M.D./Ph.D. students interested in pursuing careers in medicine are eligible if they clearly intend to conduct research as an integral part of that career.

The characteristics the Foundation seeks in a Goldwater Scholar include:

Strong commitment to a research career in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering,
Effective display of intellectual intensity in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, and
Potential for a significant future contribution to research in their chosen field.

Campus Application Instructions and Checklist

The Goldwater scholarship requires institutional nomination. Applications made directly to the awarding body will not be considered. Students interested in applying to be among UCA’s institutional nominees must first submit the Goldwater Pre-Application form on the Goldwater website. Once reviewed, you will be given access to the Goldwater online application.

Submit the following four application components by November 15. If the instructions ask you to submit to Fellowship Advising, you should send the documents as a PDF to Dr. Stephen Addison, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, at saddison@uca.edu.

Three Letters of Recommendation

Your references should provide letters of support to Dr. Stephen Addison (saddison@uca.edu) as PDFs by the campus deadline. See formatting requirements below. As outlined on the Goldwater website, “Your three references should be individuals who know your strengths and weaknesses well, particularly those who know these traits in your area of research interest. Those who have served as mentors for you on a research project are among your most important references. After your research mentors, letters from faculty who know you well from your science, math or engineering classes are also among your strongest letters. At least two of your letters should come from individuals who can discuss your potential for a research career in the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering, and one may simply discuss your overall potential.” Please be sure to discuss the scholarship, its criteria, and the formatting requirements with your recommenders. (Note that for the campus nomination process, you are encouraged to submit as many letters as you’d like. We will then select the three strongest for your national application.) Please share the Letter formatting instructions with them: Letters of recommendation should be no more than two pages, have one-inch margins, be single spaced, use 12-point font, and be printed on letterhead. The Letters should be saved as a PDF. Please also share the Goldwater Letter Guidance.

Transcripts

Submit (to Fellowships Advising) an unofficial copy of your UCA transcript or academic record as a PDF. If you earned transfer credit for work at a previous institution, summer school, or study abroad (on a non-UCA program), provide an unofficial transcript as a PDF.

Goldwater Scholarship Application

Submit online through the Goldwater application portal. Before you gain access to the online application, you must first submit the Goldwater Pre-Application form on the Goldwater website. Once your pre-application has been approved, you can begin the Goldwater application. Here is a sample application. We recommend preparing your short essays in Word, and then cutting and pasting when you are ready to submit. Remember that the short essays–although formatted as individual responses–should flow together as one logical and cohesive narrative.

Research Essay

Submit as part of your online Goldwater Scholarship Application. Your essay should discuss a significant issue or problem in your field of study that is of particular interest to you. The strongest Research Essays are based on a prior research project. The essay should include 1) a description of the issue or problem (your research question), 2) a discussion of the research methodology, and 3) a discussion of your findings. It is very important that the essay details your specific contributions to the project and indicate the specific skills/expertise you developed as a result of participation in the project. To demonstrate that you “think like a scientist,” you might, as an example, describe future work the experimental data suggests or describe an entirely new work that is based on the skills and insights you learned from the experience.

Research Essays should be written with the understanding that Goldwater reviewers are experienced science reviewers, but may not necessarily be an expert in a specific research area.

Your essay should be single spaced and use 12 point or larger Arial font*. Margins should be 1 inch on all sides. Page length should not exceed 3 pages. Your essay must include your name and the name of your academic institution at the top of each page. Single or double column format may be used. As appropriate, utilize graphs, tables, and figures in the essay to explain or clarify results. Include a bibliography and/or references, which are included in the 3 pages.

*Figures, table captions and bibliographic citations may use 10-point Arial font. Research essays that use mathematical expressions may use LaTeX or other document preparation software to enable proper formatting.

Campus Contact

Dr. Stephen Addison, Dean
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Email: saddison@uca.edu
Phone: (501) 450-5080