Requirements

College/School Eligibility:

  • Agriculture and Life Sciences
  • Arts and Sciences
  • Bowers CIS
  • Engineering
  • Human Ecology

Class Year Eligibility:

  • Fourth Year + (undergrad)

Open to:

  • Cornell Undergraduate Students

GPA Requirements:

Minimum GPA: 3.80

Application Information:

The next deadline by which to apply for Cornell's nomination for the Churchill is 1pm ET on September 5, 2025. 

Detailed information and application instructions, along with the official application, may be found on the Churchill website. This information should be read carefully, along with the Cornell application information here. Pay special attention to the official application instructions, which are detailed and very specific.

Note that to be eligible for the Churchill, you must also apply to Cambridge for the degree course of your choice by the mid-October deadline for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, listing Churchill as your first-choice college.

To apply for Cornell's nomination for the Churchill the following materials must be submitted to the Office of Fellowships:

  1. Application: simply create a pdf of your DRAFT online Churchill application and submit this to ccs-fellowships@cornell.edu. To do this, complete AND submit your application through the official Churchill application system and then create a pdf of the submitted file to ccs-fellowships@cornell.edu by the endorsement deadline. If endorsed, your submitted file can be returned to you for further edits.  Included with your application should be the four additional required documents: List of Scholarships, Prizes, Awards, & other distinctions obtained (1 page max); Research/Employment (1 page max); Proposed Program of Study essay (1 page max); Personal Statement (2 pages max)
  2. Letters of Reference: Four letters should be submitted to ccs-fellowships@cornell.edu, as pdfs of SIGNED ORIGINALS on LETTERHEAD.  Applicants should note the official instructions concerning the choice of recommenders and may consult the Office of Fellowships with further questions.
  3. Laboratory placement (if applicable & available): may simply be an email from the prospective PI at Cambridge.
  4. Graduate Degree Application: a copy of your Cambridge postgraduate degree course application, which you must have submitted to Cambridge by their mid-October Gates and other funding deadline, listing Churchill as your 1st-choice college.
  5. Transcripts: For the initial campus competition, unofficial Cornell transcripts may be uploaded by applicants. 
    An official transcript must also be requested from any other institution attended for post-secondary studies. Only one official copy of each transcript is required and should be sent directly to ccs-fellowships@cornell.edu by the campus application deadline.

Following the campus round of competition, no more than two endorsed applications may be sent to the national competition in November. Applicants are normally notified of the results by late December and awards are announced publicly by early February. 

Interested Cornell applicants, after doing some research of their own, should schedule an appointment with Clare Jones from the Office of Fellowships. 

Special Eligibility Requirements:

Eligible Cornell applicants must be US citizens who are graduating seniors or recent alumni (within 12 months of graduating from Cornell University).  They must hold a bachelor's degree by October 1 of the academic year in which they would take up the award and may not have attained a doctorate.

Selection is based on: 

  • Outstanding academic achievement, especially in the major (previous Scholars have usually had a GPA of 3.9 or better).
  • Proven talent in research and a capacity to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the sciences, engineering, or mathematics by pursuing original, creative work at an advanced level (as demonstrated by awards, prizes, research, and letters of recommendation.
  • Applicants in the sciences and engineering will demonstrate extensive laboratory experience, internships, or other related work, while applicants in mathematics will show substantial independent work or other projects)
  • Scores on the GRE.

  • Outstanding personal qualities. 

     

    Restrictions to Use of Award:

Note that this scholarship is only for study in STEM fields, and that there are some programs of study at Cambridge which are ineligible (see the official website for specifics).


Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Clare Jones at ckj23@cornell.edu.