FAQ

Bonderman travel is resuming on February 15, 2023 for past cohorts from 2019, 2020, and 2021. To allow us to provide appropriate support to these 30+ fellows we will only select a small cohort of graduate/professional fellows in the 2022-23 academic year. The selection hiatus for undergraduate fellows will allow us to focus on supporting the large number of waiting fellows. Bonderman travel is more complex and requires more support than ever and we are committed to ensuring that this patiently waiting group has all the assistance necessary. We look forward to welcoming undergraduate applications in the future.

Unfortunately, this will not be possible. Given the the length of the undergraduate hiatus and our staff’s ability to support the application, selection, preparation, and travel processes, those who graduate during the undergraduate hiatus will not be eligible to apply in the future.

Unfortunately, this will not be possible. Given our staff’s ability to support the application, selection, preparation, and travel processes, those who graduate during the 2021-22 hiatus will not be eligible to apply in 2023 or in the future.

All applicants must be currently enrolled the quarter of selection (spring quarter 2023).

If you have missed the information sessions please review all parts of the Bonderman Fellowship FAQ and the guidelines on the How to Apply page, watch the information session recording, attend a Q&A and let your imagination soar. If you still have questions you contact us at bondermn@uw.edu.

Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents to be eligible for this fellowship.

The application for the 2023 selection will be available mid-Winter Quarter 2023, and close at 12pm (noon) on March 29, 2023.  Please check the How to Apply page to see if the application is currently available.

To access the Bonderman application, sign into the MyGrad portal with your UW NetID. Along the website header, select “Request Award.” Under “Award Name,” select “Bonderman Fellowship” and then “Submit Request.” This will take you to the Bonderman application materials. Select the links under “Material Name” to fill out and upload the necessary files to complete the application. Once the application is complete, select “submit” underneath the Bonderman Materials Checklist.

It is possible to edit the application fields and re-upload files in MyGrad until the application is submitted. Once submitted, however, the application cannot be edited. To edit your existing application, sign into MyGrad and click “Request Award” along the website header. You will see your application in progress under “Current Award Activity”.

No, the application deadline is final.

For 2023 only those who are invited to interview will need to provide a reference. Your references should be people in a position to speak to your qualifications for and commitment to this experience. References can be instructors, mentors, advisers, or employers, but should not be family members or significant others. They do not need to write a letter – if needed we will contact them by phone or email during the interview stage of the selection process. References should be able to speak to:

• Your qualifications for solo international travel.
• Your interest in the itinerary you propose.
• Their experience with how you follow through on your commitments.
• Your openness to ways of thinking that differ from you.

We do not share prior successful proposals. Not only do the Fellowship requirements and the application regularly change, but each Bonderman fellow is unique and so are the proposals that got them to the interview stage. We encourage you to focus not on what has worked in the past, but on why you make a great candidate, why you are applying for the fellowship, why you chose your countries, and why the Bonderman experience is important to you right now.

No, you don’t have to be enrolled to use the fellowship, you can even use the fellowship after graduation. You do have to be enrolled at the University of Washington at the time of selection (i.e., you must be enrolled in at least one credit spring quarter 2023 to be eligible to apply). Graduate and professional students: on leave status does not mean “enrolled.”

We are searching for applicants who are curious, open, and creative. We seek those who demonstrate self-knowledge, interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and interests, and resilience and fortitude. We look for proposals that balance challenging the applicant in new ways with careful planning and thoughtful engagement with those challenges. 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. In your proposal make sure you respond to all of the prompts. Tips for a successful application can be viewed here.

Absolutely not!  You are not required to have a theme to apply for a Bonderman Fellowship. If you have something that ties all your countries together, great, but if you want to travel to different places for different reasons, that is great as well!

The Bonderman Fellowship prioritizes students without extensive international experience, but we also recognize that there are a wide variety of international experiences that may be very different from the independent travel of the Bonderman Fellowship. We ask about your previous international experiences to understand the type of experiences you’ve had and how those are similar and/or different from the travel you would undertake on the Bonderman Fellowship.

This is an independent journey, so if an applicant proposes to visit family in another country, that will not be viewed as competitive by the selection committee as it does not follow the guidelines of a solo journey. However, independent exploration of one’s identity, including traveling to a country one’s family is from and one may have been to before, is acceptable. Strong applications will articulate how the journey being proposed will help one interact with people, places, and cultures with which one is unfamiliar.

Language fluency is not required to be awarded the Bonderman Fellowship. Language experience provides the selection committee context for your proposed itinerary and how it will push you outside of your comfort zone.

Bonderman Fellowships are intended to introduce students to cultures, peoples, and areas of the world with which they are not familiar. Proposals to travel in areas of the world that an applicant is comfortable with and has significant experience in will not be considered as strong as those that challenge the applicant to stretch and learn new things about the world.

Bonderman Fellows must adhere to university rules and policies that govern international travel by UW staff, faculty, students, and affiliates. See the below question “Can I travel anywhere I want?” for more guidance on where Bonderman Fellows can and cannot travel.

All applicants will be notified of whether or not they will move on to the interview stage of the selection process. All applicants will be notified of their interview status between mid- and late-Spring Quarter 2023.  Please do not contact us if you have not heard by the end of May 2023.

You must travel for five to eight months to four to eight countries. If traveling for five months, fellows travel to a minimum of one and a maximum of two distinct world regions. If traveling for six to eight months, fellows travel to a minimum and maximum of two world regions.

While your official Bonderman travels and the support and oversight of the University of Washington ends at eight months, you can continue with personal travels after that eighth month.

If awarded a Bonderman fellowship in the 2023 selection cycle you can embark on your travels between September 1, 2023 and September 1, 2024.

No, this is to be a life-changing experience of total immersion in other places, peoples, and cultures and you cannot break the five to eight months of travel into smaller sessions.

This is a solitary adventure that you must undertake alone. You can occasionally travel with other travelers or have friends or family join you for a limited time (~one week), but you cannot take your spouse/partner/friend/child on your travels with you. You also should not travel in organized, group tour situations, except for limited duration in places you cannot otherwise reach (i.e., a guided tour of a location that requires permitted guides to accompany visitors).

This award should not be used to fund research towards your degree, for formal study at a university, or for travel with a formal organization. This is not a research fellowship, but is a personal journey.

That being said, on arrival in a new region or location we would encourage you to engage in a short-term language course (~one week) to aid your engagement in that place.

Bonderman Fellows must adhere to university rules and policies that govern international travel by UW staff, faculty, students, and affiliates. While we encourage you to be imaginative and honest about your true desires when creating your itinerary, we follow the advice of the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). If you propose travel to a country with a high level of risk, in your interview we will ask about your plan to safely and successfully travel there and may not approve your travel there, even if we should award you a fellowship.

Bonderman fellows are not allowed to travel to countries that the U.S State Department rates as a Level 3 or 4 (on their 1-4 scale). Fellows requesting to travel to countries with a country-wide Level 1 or 2 rating with High Risk Areas (Level 3 or 4) within that country will go through a Bonderman and UW review process before being approved to travel there on their Bonderman Fellowship. Should a country’s rating change prior to your departure or during your Fellowship you will work with Bonderman and UW staff to make an appropriate plan.

Please see the Bonderman Fellowships &COVID-19 section below for information on travel during the pandemic.

As long as you fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of the fellowship, then any funds remaining at the conclusion of your travels are yours to use as you wish. Should you fail to fulfill the requirements, you will need to return a portion of the funds.

If some countries on your itinerary have onerous COVID-related entry requirements, you will work with the Bonderman staff to determine if modifications should be made to your itinerary to remove those countries, or if you will be able to navigate the entry requirements while traveling on a Bonderman Fellowship.

Bonderman Fellows travel independently for an extended duration, exploring multiple countries in multiple regions of the world. Many Bonderman Fellows use public transportation and stay in shared accommodations (including home-stays and hostels). Social distancing in these settings can be very difficult and fellows experience frequent and close contact with others.

In line with university policy, fellows are required to be vaccinated for COVID-19. However, fellows can still carry and transit the virus. Many countries have varying levels of health system readiness and capacity to manage COVID-19 and entry requirements can change unexpectedly based on COVID-19 trends, including required quarantines, proof of a negative COVID test, or full border closures.

Given these considerations, Bonderman Fellowship staff work with selected fellows to understand these complex dynamics and the ethical implications of travel. All fellows are required to have UW Student Abroad Insurance for the duration of their fellowship, enabling access to healthcare providers and health coverage around the world. While Bonderman staff support fellows in navigating this new travel landscape pre-departure and during travel, fellows are ultimately responsible to research and understand how COVID-19 will impact their travels and develop a personal and ethical risk-assessment. Bonderman staff encourage applicants and fellows to consider the impact of their choices and travels on the people and communities they’ll be encountering along the way.