Description:

You must submit your completed application by 1 pm EST on January 5, 2023.

Since 1996, the Richard U. Light Foundation has generously funded the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program at Yale. Through intensive language study, the Light Fellowship Program strives to help Yale students become highly proficient in one or more East Asian languages in order to cultivate intercultural understanding and engagement among future leaders.

The Light Fellowship provides full funding for travel, transportation, tuition, room and board, and incidentals to Yale undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students to pursue intensive language study at approved sites in China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea for terms ranging from a single summer to a combined summer and academic year. You must separately apply and be admitted to programs at one or more Light Fellowship Approved Programs.

There are two competitions each academic year. The deadlines posted here are for the Late Fall Competition, which provides funding for the summer, fall, academic year, or combinations thereof only; those seeking funding for the spring term only should complete the "Richard U. Light Fellowship - Spring Study Only" application.

The Fellowship Committee seeks to identify applicants who demonstrate academic achievement, readiness for the proposed program, and commitment to language study in your academic or career plans. You must have achieved a basic proficiency (at least one year of language study at Yale or at an equivalent program) in the target language but should still have significant room for improvement in your language abilities. Recipients are expected to continue language study after returning from Asia, preferably at Yale.

The Richard U. Light Fellowship Program welcomes applications from registered and enrolled Yale students of all backgrounds and academic disciplines. All undergraduates (including graduating seniors), master’s degree students, and professional school students are eligible to apply.  Ph.D. students are eligible to apply to the Light Fellowship only if your language study in East Asia would be completed prior to submitting your prospectus. Students registered under the Division of Special Registration (post-baccalaureate, non-degree, and visiting students) are not eligible to apply. Citizenship is not a factor in selection. 

More information is available on the Light Fellowship website and at the mandatory information sessions. If you still have questions after attending an information session, you can request an appointment to meet with a Light Fellowship adviser.

Application Information:

You must submit your completed application by 1 pm EST on January 5, 2023.

This deadline is non-negotiable and strictly enforced. We encourage you to submit your application early to avoid any technical issues with submission.

A completed application consists of:

1. Application: All sections of this application in the Student Grants Database must be completed to 100% by the final deadline.

2. Language Evaluation: A Language Evaluation by your current or most recent Yale language instructor is required for all Light Fellowship applicants and is a critical component of your application. Review instructions and download the evaluation form(s) through this application in the Student Grants Database. You must complete the student section of the form and upload it according to the instructions in the application by the first deadline above.

3. Recommendation: All Light applicants must submit one recommendation from a Yale faculty member with whom you have taken a non-language class. You should not request a recommendation from any language instructor or residential college dean. This recommendation will be requested and submitted electronically through your application in the Student Grants Database. Additional recommendations will not be accepted.

4. Personal Statement: All Light applicants must complete a personal statement (3 pages maximum; additional pages will be discarded) on the form provided in the Student Grants Database. Your personal statement must be uploaded and submitted electronically through the Student Grants Database by the final deadline.

5. Unofficial Yale Transcript and Transcripts from Other Institutions: You will be required to upload a copy of your most recent Yale transcript after your fall semester grades have been posted but before the final deadline. Transfer students, graduate and professional school students must also submit a scanned copy of your transcript from your former undergraduate institution. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, so long as the uploaded documents are clear and include all of your grades. All transcript(s) must be scanned, uploaded and submitted electronically by the final deadline.

Please visit our website for an overview of our application process.

Special Eligibility Requirements:

You must attend one of the mandatory information sessions during the academic year of your application before the application due date.

You must be a registered and enrolled Yale student. All undergraduate students (including graduating seniors), master's degree students, and professional school students are eligible to apply.

Ph.D. students are eligible to apply to the Light Fellowship only if your language study in East Asia would be completed prior to submitting your prospectus.
Students registered under the Division of Special Registration (post-baccalaureate, non-degree, and visiting students) are not eligible to apply.

By the competition deadline, you must have completed or be in the process of completing at least one semester of language class at Yale in the language(s) you are proposing to study.

You must have already completed one year of language study at Yale or at an equivalent program (i.e. if you are a transfer, graduate, or professional school student who studied the language at another undergraduate institution) by the time you embark on your studies abroad.

To review a full list of our eligibility requirements and general selection criteria, please visit our website: https://light.yale.edu/apply/eligibility

Restrictions to Use of Award:

Light Fellowships are awarded for intensive language study at Light Fellowship Approved Programs only, not for archival research, travel, or other purposes.

Links to Additional Information:

Richard U. Light Fellowship Homepage

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Light Fellowship at light.fellowship@yale.edu

Search Filters:

Current Year of Study

First-Year Student
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Master’s Student
JD
MD
PhD Pre-Candidacy

Term of Award

Summer
Fall
Academic Year
Summer + Fall
Summer + Academic Year

Grant or Fellowship Purpose

Study Abroad
Language Study

Global Region or Country

Asia
-- China (East Asia)
-- Japan (East Asia)
-- South Korea (East Asia)
-- Taiwan (East Asia)

Citizenship Status

U.S. citizens are eligible
Non-U.S. citizens are eligible

Current FAS Graduate School Discipline

GS A&S Humanities - American Studies
GS A&S Humanities - Classics
GS A&S Humanities - Comparative Literature
GS A&S Humanities - East Asian Languages and Literatures
GS A&S Humanities - English Lang & Lit
GS A&S Humanities - Film Studies
GS A&S Humanities - French
GS A&S Humanities - Germanic Languages and Literatures
GS A&S Humanities - History
GS A&S Humanities - History of Art
GS A&S Humanities - History of Medicine and Science
GS A&S Humanities - Italian Lang & Lit
GS A&S Humanities - Medieval Studies
GS A&S Humanities - Music
GS A&S Humanities - Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
GS A&S Humanities - Philosophy
GS A&S Humanities - Religious Studies
GS A&S Humanities - Renaissance Studies
GS A&S Humanities - Slavic Languages and Literatures
GS A&S Humanities - Spanish and Portuguese
GS A&S Science - Applied Mathematics
GS A&S Science - Astronomy
GS A&S Science - Biological and Biomedical Sciences
GS A&S Science - Biostatistics
GS A&S Science - Cell Biology
GS A&S Science - Cellular and Molecular Physiology
GS A&S Science - Chemistry
GS A&S Science - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
GS A&S Science - Computer Science
GS A&S Science - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
GS A&S Science - Engineering and Applied Science
GS A&S Science - Epidemiology and Public Health
GS A&S Science - Experimental Pathology
GS A&S Science - Forestry and Environmental Studies
GS A&S Science - Genetics
GS A&S Science - Geology and Geophysics
GS A&S Science - Immunobiology
GS A&S Science - Investigative Medicine
GS A&S Science - Mathematics
GS A&S Science - Microbiology
GS A&S Science - Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
GS A&S Science - Molecular; Cellular and Developmental Biology
GS A&S Science - Neurobiology
GS A&S Science - Neuroscience
GS A&S Science - Pharmacology
GS A&S Science - Physics
GS A&S Social Science - African American Studies
GS A&S Social Science - African Studies
GS A&S Social Science - Anthropology
GS A&S Social Science - Archaeological Studies
GS A&S Social Science - East Asian Studies
GS A&S Social Science - Economics
GS A&S Social Science - European and Russian Studies
GS A&S Social Science - International and Development Economics
GS A&S Social Science - International Relations
GS A&S Social Science - Linguistics
GS A&S Social Science - Management
GS A&S Social Science - Political Science
GS A&S Social Science - Psychology
GS A&S Social Science - Sociology
GS A&S Social Science - Statistics

Current Professional School Discipline

School of Architecture All
Arc - M. Architecture I
Arc - M. Architecture II
Arc - M. Environmental Design
School of Art All
Art - Graphic Design
Art - Painting/Printmaking
Art - Photography
Art – Sculpture
School of Divinity All
Div - M. Divinity
Div - M.A. Religion
Div - S.T.M.
School of Drama All
Dra - M. Fine Arts
Dra - D. Fine Arts
School of Epidemiology and Public Health All
EPH - Biostatistics
EPH - Chronic Disease Epidemiology
EPH - Environmental Health Sciences
EPH - Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases
EPH - Global Health
EPH - Health Management
EPH - Health Policy and Administration
EPH - Social and Behavioral Sciences
Yale School of the Environment
FES - M. Environmental Management
FES - M. Environmental Science
FES - M. Forest Science
FES - M. Forestry
FES - Ph.D
School of Law All
Law - M.S.L
Law - LL.M
Law - JD
Law - J.S.D
School of Management All
SOM (MBA) - Finance
SOM (MBA) - Leadership
SOM (MBA) - Marketing
SOM (MBA) - Nonprofit Management
SOM (MBA) - Operations Management
SOM (MBA) - Public Management
SOM (MBA) - Strategy
SOM (PhD) - Accounting
SOM (PhD) - Finance
SOM (PhD) – Marketing
School of Medicine All
YSM - M.D.
YSM - Ph.D
School of Music All
Mus - M. Music
Mus - M. Musical Arts
Mus - D. Musical Arts
School of Nursing All
Nur - M.S.N.
Nur - D.N.Sc.

Begin Accepting Applications Date:

10/04/2022

Deadline Date (EST Time Zone):

1/05/2023 1:00 PM

https://bit.ly/3jhx0C4

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