Fall 2025 Call for Nominations
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
2026-2027 Wormsloe Graduate Fellowship
Nomination Deadline: Thursday, February 5, 2026
The Wormsloe Graduate Fellowship recognizes and supports graduate student research that aligns with the aims of the Wormsloe Foundation: to study, document, and protect the unique cultural and natural setting and history of Wormsloe and coastal Georgia.
Award: The fellowship is in the form of a 12-month, .4 FTE graduate research assistantship at an annual amount of $30,000. Recipients will also benefit from a reduction in tuition to $25 per semester. Recipients will receive an additional $2,500 per year for equipment, supplies, and research-related travel expenses. Faculty advisors will be provided with a matching amount of $2,500 for expenses related to supporting the student’s research at Wormsloe. The assistantship will begin July 1, 2026, and end on June 30, 2027. Fellowships are renewable up for up to one additional year for a master’s student and two additional years for a doctoral student, subject to annual review of satisfactory academic progress. Fellowship and additional funding terminate upon the student’s completion of degree.
Eligibility Requirements: UGA doctoral and master’s degree students, a component of whose research is planned to take place at or have as its subject the Wormsloe site near Savannah, Georgia, are eligible to apply. Applicants must have completed at least one semester as a full-time graduate student and be prepared to begin their research in summer or fall 2026. Double Dawgs and students in professional degree programs are not eligible. Priority will be given to students planning multi-year research in the Wormsloe area.
Nomination Materials:
1. Nomination letter (not to exceed two pages): The letter, to be written by the student’s faculty advisor, should emphasize the candidate’s academic and/or professional background and qualifications for conducting the research. The letter should also address the ways in which the nominee is prepared for research and can fulfill the goals of the Wormsloe Foundation.
2. Nominee’s proposed research statement (not to exceed two pages): The nominee should write a statement describing the research to be undertaken at the Wormsloe site and how it fits with the Wormsloe Foundation’s aims. They should include an overview of the project, methodology, data collection and proposed analysis, and the significance of the project. The proposal should address the potential of the research to benefit the student’s field of study and to promote public outreach related to Wormsloe.
3. A current resume/CV with contact information
4. A current unofficial graduate transcript (not password protected)
Application Procedure:
Directors of Graduate Studies may submit up to two nominees per department. A student should send all application materials except reference letters to the Director of Graduate Studies of the department in which the student is enrolled. The student should provide the faculty writing the recommendation letter with contact information for the departmental graduate coordinator and inform the Director of Graduate Studies of the faculty who will be recommending.
Reference letters for the Wormsloe nominee should be emailed directly to the Director of Graduate Studies of the department. The Director of Graduate Studies will compile the documents in the order listed above and save them as a single .pdf file.
To submit the single application file, the Director of Graduate Studies should login to GradSlate and use the global search to find the student to be nominated, then click the tab of their program (e.g., FA24 - PHD_DBIO) and click the link for this nomination under the NOMINATE this APPLICANT/STUDENT heading.
Only the Director of Graduate Studies for the student’s program will have access to the nomination link. If an attempt is made to nominate a student who is not enrolled, the form will not allow upload and will instead show text that this applicant is ineligible.
Deadline: The submission must be received in GradSlate by 5pm on Thursday, February 5, 2026.
Criteria for Selection:
Nominees will be evaluated by an independent panel of reviewers. Candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. Potential of proposed research to align with the aims of the Wormsloe Foundation: to study, document, and protect the unique cultural and natural setting and history of Wormsloe and coastal Georgia.
2. Potential of proposed research to provide a significant contribution to the student’s field of study;
3. Potential of proposed research to benefit the community and/or public;
4. Potential of the research to promote public outreach related to Wormsloe.
5. Scholarly preparation of the student to undertake the proposed research; and,
6. Demonstrated capacity of the student and advisor to support completion of the research plan.
Conditions of Acceptance:
To receive the fellowship, a prospective Wormsloe Graduate Fellow must agree to:
Devote full-time to pursuing a master’s or doctoral research degree during the year(s) of the award and maintain satisfactory academic progress toward degree completion;
Be enrolled in the minimum number of full-time credit hours required by the university to receive an assistantship and tuition waiver;
Travel 1-2 times each semester to the Wormsloe site near Savannah, GA and fulfill the proposed schedule/plan for data collection at the site on an annual basis;
Honor/comply with reasonable requests to speak or provide written material related to being a Wormsloe Graduate Fellow, such as presenting at the annual symposium and providing updates for publication in Landmarks, the Wormsloe Institute of Environmental history’s newsletter;
Submit a brief (two pages or less) progress report each June and December updating the Wormsloe Foundation of the annual progress of the research and its outcomes, with the June report to be signed by the student’s major professor; and
Notify the Graduate School and Wormsloe Foundation if making a change in field of study or degree.
Nomination Deadline and Timeline:
All nominations should be submitted electronically by the department’s Director of Graduate Studies in the GradSlate form by 5pm on Thursday, February 5, 2026. Applications will be reviewed, and students will be informed of a decision no later than March 15, 2026.
Please email gradawards@uga.edu with questions.