Overview
Each spring, four to six Brown sophomores are selected as Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows. Starting in the summer after their sophomore year, students receive two years of financial support to conduct research and participate in other activities as part of a community of scholars. One or two sophomores participate in the MMUF community as Associates, receiving one summer of funding and participating in MMUF activities alongside Fellows during their junior and senior years.
The MMUF Program has four seminal components:
- Mentored research: Each Fellow conducts an individual research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Fellows begin their research the summer after the sophomore year and continue through the junior and senior years. Such research helps prepare Mellon fellows for graduate study in their chosen disciplines.
- Engagement in an intellectual culture: Fellows meet regularly with other Fellows, graduate students, and faculty for forums, colloquia, and other activities.
- Intensive mentoring and support: Fellows work closely with faculty members in their chosen disciplines and receive additional guidance from Brown's Mellon Faculty Advisory Board and program staff.
- Financial support: Fellows who remain in good standing with the program receive a stipend for each of the two summers of their fellowship and for each semester of their junior and senior years.
Sample Calendar of Required Activities
Fall Semester
| Library Resources and Content Management | Early August |
| 2-Day GRE Preparation Course (seniors) | Late August |
| Fall Planning Lunch | Mid-September |
| Summer Research Reports | Mid-September |
| Workshop: Research Design and Getting the Most Out of Mentoring Relationships | Late September |
| 2-Day New England Regional Conference: Wesleyan University | Late September |
| Workshop & Panel: Graduate School Application Process | Mid-October |
| Field trip to GRE Exam (seniors) | Mid-October |
| Writing Retreat for MMUF undergrads, graduate students, and postdocs | 1st Saturday in November |
| Workshop: Planning for a Gap Year, Navigating the Job Search | Early November |
| Institute for Recruitment of Teachers presentation and individual interviews | Early November |
| Under/Graduate Student Mixer | Mid-November |
| Semester Wrap-up Holiday Party |
Early December |
Spring Semester
| Writing Symposium: Yale University | Late February |
| Thesis Proposal Overview (juniors) | Late February |
| Writing Retreat for MMUF undergrads, graduate students, and postdocs | Late February |
| Mellon Alumni Lecture | Early March |
| Welcome Breakfast for New Fellows | Early April |
| New Fellows Orientation (sophomores) | Mid-April |
| Junior Presentations | Late April |
| Senior Celebration | Early May |
| Senior Research Presentations (open to the public) | Early May |
| Commencement Celebration/Mellon Alumni Keynote | Memorial Day Weekend, May |