Fund Details
Richard U. Light Fellowship - Spring Study Only
Award Amount
full funding
Competition Type
Yale

Brief Description:

You must submit your completed application by 1 pm EST on Thurs. September 28, 2023.

The Richard U. Light Fellowship provides full funding for tuition, 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.


Description:

You must submit your completed application by 1 pm EST on Thurs. September 28, 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 one or more Light Fellowship Approved Programs.

There are two competitions each academic year. The deadlines posted here are for the Early Fall Competition, which provides funding for spring 2024 study only; those seeking funding for other terms of study should complete the "Richard U. Light Fellowship - Summer Fall and Academic Year 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 their academic or career plans.  You must have achieved a basic proficiency (at least one year of language study at Yale or at an equivalent college-level 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 Thurs. September 28, 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. Students must indicate their most recent language instructor on the evaluation page. Then, the Light Fellowship Office will distribute forms to the relevant language instructor. Students do not need to print out a separate form and provide it to their language instructor. 

3. Recommendation: All Light applicants must submit one recommendation form 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 form will be requested and submitted electronically through your application in the Student Grants Database. Additional recommendations will not be accepted. 


4. Personal Essays Section: All Light applicants must complete a personal essays section on the form provided in the Student Grants Database. Your personal essays must be 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.  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. Your 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 following mandatory information sessions: Session 1 (9/6/23) or Session 2 (9/15/23). 
  • 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 college-level 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
    • Spring
      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:
                9/01/2023
                Deadline Date (EST Time Zone) :
                9/28/2023 1:00 PM