2024-25 Ronald I. McKinnon Memorial Fellowship for Undergraduate Students

Stanford undergraduates must be a declared economics major and must be writing or planning to write an honors thesis in the areas of:

• International economics, or

• International finance, or

• Economic development

Proposals should show a clear path to an honors thesis, which must be under faculty mentorship and successfully completed by the end of senior year.  Econ 198 (Junior Honors Seminar) must be successfully completed during spring quarter of junior year.

Prior applicants may reapply for funding for different projects or may resubmit improved versions of earlier submissions.

In addition:

• Recipients must be registered students in the quarter they receive funds.

• Funds must be spent within six months of receipt.

• If the project involves human subjects, funds will not be disbursed until grantees obtain IRB approval.

Travel notes:

Undergraduate travel to any countries with U.S. Department of State warnings of Level 3 or 4 cannot be supported per the International Travel Policy from the Office of the Provost. 

With limited exceptions, travel for undergraduate students is not permitted to countries, regions or cities where the International SOS  travel or medical risk rating is “High” or “Extreme.” To determine a location’s International SOS medical and travel risk ratings, please visit this page.  

Fellowship Application

To apply, Stanford undergraduate students must submit the following:

• a two-page project description, 

• a detailed budget and timeline, 

• a CV, 

• Stanford transcript, 

• and one faculty letter of recommendation. 

Budget and Budget Justification:

Please upload one PDF document containing the budget and justification using the King Center budget template. Please use the same level of detail.  

Detailed budgets justifying funds requested must accompany applications, and emphasis will be placed on “value for money.” Partial awards may also be made. Awards will prioritize projects requesting coverage of direct research costs, e.g., travel, field expenses, and data acquisition. Applicants may simultaneously apply for other sources of funding but may not accept multiple sources of funding for the same expenses.

Please list all the anticipated sources of funding indicating which items would be supported by these funds and which will be covered by other sources.

The following expense categories WILL be considered an appropriate use of these funds:

• Travel costs (either domestic or international; round-trip, economy class airfare, based on fares to and from San Francisco) associated with the proposed research

• Other special project costs such as purchase of datasets, production of questionnaires and surveys, or human subject costs

• Data entry or transcription costs

• Other activities directly related to the research

• Accommodation and meals

The following expense categories will NOT be considered an appropriate use of these funds:

• Salary payments to undergraduates

• Equipment purchase(s)

• Travel costs for dependents and/or spouses

• Travel costs for job interviews

• Travel costs to attend or present at professional conferences

• Dissertation write-up grants

• Course registration

• Stanford tuition

• Language training

• Pre-departure immunizations

• Travel medicine consultation

• Health insurance

• Visa costs

• All other incidental expenses

Recommendation letter:

Faculty recommendation letters have the same deadline as the application. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their letter of recommendation is submitted by the application deadline.

Students request recommendation letters within the application on the SOLO platform. A link is immediately sent to the faculty member, who can then upload the letter via SOLO. Letters should be submitted as PDF files.

Faculty may submit letters of recommendation at any time after receiving the link and do NOT have to wait for the student to complete and submit the application. This means that students, out of courtesy to the faculty, should initiate their application early enough to give advance notice to their recommenders, even if students plan to finalize the application closer to the deadline. We recommend inputting letter writer names at least two weeks before the deadline.

Reminder: The deadline for the letter of recommendation is the same as the application deadline and applicants are responsible for ensuring that their letter of recommendation is submitted by the application deadline.  

Fellowship Application Review

After the application deadline, completed applications will be reviewed by a committee.  Candidates will be selected based on overall fit with the fellowship and academic excellence.  

Fellowship Recipient Stewardship Obligations

Fellowship recipients will write a thank-you letter to the donor. The letter must be written in a timely manner and include an abstract of the project and how the award will be used. Stewardship guidelines will be provided.

Fellowship recipients may be asked to present their research at a workshop or seminar organized by the Stanford King Center on Global Development.

Funding Guidelines:

• Requests must be for expenses that are not covered through other sources of funding from external or university sources.

• Funds awarded must be spent within six months of receipt.

• If the project involves human subjects, funds will not be disbursed until grantees obtain IRB approval.

• All funds will be dispersed as Stipend Funding via the Office of Financial Aid.

  • Stipends may be considered taxable for the recipient, although no tax forms are generated by the university.

    • The tax obligation varies according to the individual student's total income, dependency status, treaty status for international students, and individual circumstances. Residents of certain countries may be able to claim a tax treaty benefit for reduced federal taxation. 

    • For assistance with tax withholding, tax treaty and tax form issues, submit a Support Request. Student Financial Services, the Bechtel International Center, and Stanford’s Fingate provide additional information regarding tax considerations.