students sitting on University Row steps

We are proud to announce the establishment of the Marion and John Sweig Fellowship. The purpose of this fellowship is to support graduate students conducting research in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (broadly defined). See the information and application procedures below. This fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Mary Wilson & Dr. John Wilson.

Background

Dr. Mary Wilson is a speech-language pathologist, President of Laureate Learning Systems, and Professor Emerita, Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Vermont. Dr. Wilson serves on the College of Nursing and Health Sciences Advisory Board. She received her B.A. in Speech and Theatre from Smith College, her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from Emerson College, and her Ph.D. in Communicative Disorders from Northwestern University. She has been the Principal Investigator on multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). These grants have supported the development of Laureate’s Sterling Edition language assessment and intervention programs. She has received numerous awards, including Fellow and Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Emerson’s Alumni Achievement Award, and the 2012 Special Award from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

Dr. Mary Wilson and her husband, Dr. John Wilson, have established this fellowship fund in honor of her parents. Dr. Mary Wilson was supported by fellowships to advance her career and wants to recognize her parents’ efforts for her to secure those fellowships and to help current students have that same opportunity.

Purpose

The purpose of this Fellowship is to support graduate students conducting research in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (broadly defined).

Criteria

Recipients of the Fellowship must meet the following criteria:

  1. Have financial need
  2. Be enrolled as a graduate student at the University
  3. Be conducting a research project in the field of communication sciences and disorders

Allowable expenses include but are not limited to financial aid, stipends, travel expenses, research materials, or other support for the recipient’s education, research, or scholarly work. All payments must be made in accordance with University and UVM Foundation policies.

Application Procedure

Applications are processed on a rolling basis, and there is no deadline. Awards of up to 3,000 dollars are permitted, and multiple award requests can be funded annually. Please submit your request as an attached document to csd@uvm.edu.

  • Write a one-two page summary of your current research. Please be sure to include the following:
    • Name, email, degrees (in progress or earned)
    • Faculty advisor name, department, email
    • Title of study
    • Abstract of your research study, including purpose, research question(s), and research design
    • Proposed dates for initiation and completion of the work for which you are seeking funding
    • Plans for disseminating the results of the research
  • Include a budget (up to $3,000) with descriptions and amounts of each proposed expense. If the proposal is attached to a research project with funding, explain why more funding is needed.
  • Include a letter of support from a UVM faculty advisor, including their willingness to supervise the research from start to finish and an assurance that all required IRB procedures will be followed to protect human subjects.

Submit applications for the Marion and John Sweig Research Fellowship to the Review Committee at csd@uvm.edu. All components should be submitted by email as a single file attachment (e.g., .doc or .pdf). Please write "MARION AND JOHN SWEIG RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP" in the email subject line.