Eligibility & Requirements

The 2025 Bonderman Fellowship application in November for both graduate students and graduating senior undergraduates is now open. Please read all sections of this page, especially the Eligibility section. We also encourage you to sign up for an info session.

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2025 Fellowship Components                     Eligibility                    Guidelines                    Fellowship Requirements

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2025 FELLOWSHIP COMPONENTS

• Each Bonderman Fellow will receive $26,000.
• Fellows travel independently for eight months, exploring six to nine countries in a minimum of two and a maximum of three distinct world regions.

Start an Application

Application is due January 16, 2025 Time at 5 pm PST.

ELIGIBILITY

In 2025, the Bonderman Fellowship will offer University of Washington undergraduate graduating seniors, graduate and professional students from the Seattle, Tacoma, and Bothell campuses an opportunity to engage in independent international travel. Open to all fields of study. Students with limited/no international experience and those from low-income backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

• To be considered, applicants must:
  • Be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
  • Be enrolled in a University of Washington undergraduate, graduate or professional degree program the quarter the application is due (Winter Quarter 2025). 
    • On leave status is not considered “enrolled”. 
    • Professional students include those in Law (JD), Medicine (MD), Dentistry (DDS), and Pharmacy (PharmD) degree programs.
  • Undergraduate applicants must be planning to graduate in winter 2025, spring 2025, summer 2025 or autumn 2025. 
    • If you are not graduating during these timeframes, you are not eligible to apply this year. 
    • If you are selected as a Bonderman Fellow, you must graduate before you start your travels.
    • Please see additional preferences below.
  • Be in good academic, conduct and disciplinary standing during the quarter the application is due.
  • If awarded, good academic, disciplinary and conduct standing is a prerequisite of receiving the fellowship.

GUIDELINES

Bonderman Fellowships enable students to undertake independent international travel to explore, be open to the unexpected, and come to know the world in new ways. An applicant need not have a travel theme or project but should demonstrate initiative, commitment, resilience, honesty, and self-knowledge. Travel plans should be personal and not about academic research.

This journey is intended to foster independence; therefore fellows may not:

• participate in a program or organization;
• engage in formal study at a university;
• conduct research or other academic projects; or
• engage in extended travel with an organized group while carrying out the obligations of the fellowship.

Your itinerary cannot include countries that have US State Department Level 3 or 4 travel warnings. Please carefully review the State Department’s information about each country you list on your itinerary. 

These fellowships should introduce students to cultures, peoples, and areas of the world with which they are not familiar, therefore:

• travel to highly westernized/developed areas (including Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) is not competitive;
• preference is given to candidates without extensive international experience.
  • While the Bonderman Fellowship prioritizes students without extensive international experience, we understand that no situation is the same and many students will have some previous international experience due to their educational, professional, or personal experience(s). In the application, we ask about prior international experience to understand the breadth and type of your international experience. We are particularly interested in how the Bonderman Fellowship would be different than your previous experience(s). Please find more information about previous international experience here.

For undergraduate applicants, review and interview committees will give preference in the selection process to undergraduate applications that demonstrate these characteristics/backgrounds:

• Applicants from low-income backgrounds, who have received need-based financial aid, or those who have not/would not generally have the opportunity to travel independently.
• Applicants who have a demonstrated commitment to public service and plan to pursue a future career in public service. We welcome a wide range of public service interests and types of service. Public service careers can happen in all realms (government, nonprofit, or private sector) and all fields through which you intend to work toward solving the world’s most complex problems and enriching the lives of others (teachers, community organizers, scientists, entrepreneurs, socially impactful businesses, arts, etc.). Past majors of Bonderman Fellows include music, social work, neuroscience, international studies, communication, industrial design, and more.
• Applicants who carefully plan to deepen their experience in each country on their itinerary, ideally spending more than one month in most countries.
• Applicants who approach their Bonderman travels as a continuation of their educational experience, rather than as an award, reward, vacation or time off.
• Please see FAQs for more details!

FELLOWSHIP REQUIREMENTS & PREPARATION

New Bonderman Fellows receive extensive support from Bonderman staff in between their selection and departure on their fellowship. While fellows are expected to lead itinerary development and preparation for their fellowship (including booking flights, researching their activities, medical and logistical preparations, etc.), Bonderman staff provide guidance and support to all new fellows, as well as provide opportunities for them to connect with each other and past fellows. Pre-departure, fellows:

• Attend a mandatory cohort orientation;
• Have individual meetings with Bonderman staff (~3 meetings);
• Have opportunities to connect with past and traveling fellows;
• Finalize and obtain itinerary approval from Bonderman staff and the UW Office of Global Affairs Global Travel Security.

During their fellowship travel, all fellows are required to:

1. Adhere to their pre-approved itinerary;
2. Regularly check-in with Bonderman staff while abroad;
3. Have UW Student Abroad Insurance for entirety of their fellowship;
4. Abide by UW Global Travel Security recommendations and requirements; and
5. Adhere to their pre-approved itinerary.