The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program is one of the most revered and sought after recognitions for undergraduates studying the sciences.
This award was established by the United States Congress in 1984 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The program’s goal is to support the development of future scientists and grow the scientific community by providing scholarship awards to exceptionally qualified students in the fields of science, math and [KR6] engineering. Specifically the focus of the scholarship is research.
Every year each university can nominate up to four students for this award creating a pool of about 1200 student nationwide. About 300 scholarships are awarded each year in addition to nearly 150 honorable mentions.
In the past decade ONU has had 10 scholarship winners and 5 honorable mentions. The scholarship amount is $7,500 and will be repeated for sophomore winners in their junior year without having to reapply.
There are four parts required in applying for the Goldwater Scholarship: academic achievement, research experience, a research essay and three letters of recommendation. The minimum recommended GPA is a 3.75, but course difficulty and other recognitions taken into account as well. All research activity, work or academic work is evaluated as part of the application. A technical research essay is required that should detail any research done, planned by or experienced by the candidate. The three letters of recommendation required must be done by University professors and should highlight the student’s interest in research, commitment to education and potential for high level research achievements . All four parts of the application are weighted evenly.
The scholarship is open to sophomores and juniors, including P2’s and P3’s. To apply, students must first seek a nomination through Ohio Northern University. This can be done by completing all parts of the application, including the essay and sending out transcripts.
Students wishing to apply should contact ONU’s Goldwater Scholarship faculty representative, Dr. Chris Bowers at c-bowers@onu.edu. The deadline for review by ONU is December 5, 2014 at 4:30 p.m