Grants, Fellowships, and Internships

Take your classroom experiences into the multilingual world.

Students of German at Colgate engage with European culture and explore a range of fields — in the sciences and the humanities — adding international dimensions to their education and experiences. Along the way, they are aided by grants, fellowships, and internships funded through the University and organizations beyond campus.

In Spring 2020, we warmly congratulated two German Department sophomores, Jessica Johnson and Eric Matt, who were each awarded competitive DAAD RISE summer fellowships to work in scientific research laboratories in Germany in the summer of 2020. Eric, a double major in German and Physics, was to work alongside Ph.D. student Nicholas Rendler at the University of Freiburg, studying the electron transfer properties in various molecules. This has potential applications in highly efficient organic solar cells. Jessica, a double major in German and Astrogeophysics, received a placement at the Thuringian Particle Size Laboratory at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt. She was to assess paleo-climatic and environmental impacts of sediment production, transportation, and deposition, through the geochemical analysis of samples collected from the Thuringian Forest. Cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we hope that students can access such opportunities once again in 2021 and beyond.

The department will award several grants of $750 each to support the study of German during summer (and, in some cases, winter) break. These grants, supported in part through the generosity of alumni, fund work on independent projects or through established programs.

Grants are awarded on academic merit and the project’s future impact on an applicant’s work in German Studies. Priority is given to students who will be members of the Freiburg Study Group.

To apply, e-mail a copy of your transcript (official or unofficial), a faculty reference, and the following information to Nicole Catgenova (110 Lawrence Hall / ncatgenova@colgate.edu) starting November 20, 2020 and continuing on a rolling basis:

Name
Class year
Current German courses
Are you a member of the upcoming Freiburg Study Group, or will you be applying to the next available Freiburg Study Group?
Describe how you plan to use the grant for your summer or winter break study of German and how it relates to and furthers your German studies at Colgate.

There are many ways to advance your study of German and acquire educational and international experience beyond the Colgate campus — and resources available to help you do so. These include grants for supplemental summer and winter course study, scholarships for undertaking different courses of study in Europe, and more. Please consult with faculty to discuss such opportunities.

For their academically rigorous work, Colgate’s German department students have received international recognition in the form of Fulbright Teaching Assistantships to Germany, DAAD fellowships and teaching grants, and other research grants. Meet with faculty to discuss such opportunities.

Economic and cultural globalization places a premium on international experience. Check out these resources for exploring internships in Germany and Europe and consult with German faculty to discuss these opportunities.

Testimonials

I learned a lot about how different languages can intersect, and the diverse opportunities available to me as a multilingual student abroad.

Soren Schilhab Class of 2021

More from Schilhab

“Kassel is a sprawling, multi-faceted city, with beautiful parks perfect for a stroll, and plenty of art and cultural museums, including The Herkules Monument, and Lowenburg Castle. In January I began as an intern at Uni Kassel for their International Winter University, or IWU. As the program's intern, I would normally be tasked with joining the foreign students in the culture group in the classroom, however due to Colgate's fantastic German program, I was the first-ever IWU intern who spoke German. This led to me working both within a classroom setting, and running errands in the city, traveling with the students to other locations. During this time, I was also able to find a job. Through Uni Kassel I began working as an English tutor where I helped a woman preparing for a conference trip to Japan. While I was the teacher in this situation, I learned a lot about how different languages can intersect, and the diverse opportunities available to me as a multilingual student abroad. I found my time in Kassel rewarding, as I experienced a mix of language, culture, and independence as I navigated every-day life in Germany.”

Over the summer, I explored the history and personalities of the generation that produced the zenith of German film.

Steven Nave Class of 2017

My work as a research assistant in Freiburg involved researching the loss of information in photons. Theoretically, we stored information in photons and then shot them from one point in the ‘atmosphere’ to another.

Jackson Ang’ong’a Class of 2015