Ruth Straethern Dickie, a life member of GWIS, passed away on December 24, 1993 at the age of 80, a Professor Emeritus at the UW‐Madison at the time. Professor Dickie became a member of GWIS in 1947 and served in most offices of the Madison Chapter, including President twice and National President from 1978‐1979. Her support and dedication to the graduate education and research efforts of women in science were expressed in her personal and professional life. She cared passionately and left a generous endowment to the Madison Chapter, the income to provide scholarships and grants‐in‐aid to women in science. Several awards are given in Ruth’s honor each year as a research scholarship or a grant-in-aid. The amount of the awards vary from year to year but are generally $500 to $5000.
Who can apply?
Graduate students at UW-Madison, with at least one year remaining before graduation, and are current members of GWIS Madison Chapter. Domestic and international students may both apply.
When are applications for 2026-27 awards due?
Open on January 29th, 2026 and are due March 31st, 2026, 11:59 pm Central Standard Time (CST).
What is required for an application?
Awards are given based on a hypothesis-driven research proposal. A complete application includes:
- Application form for the 2026/2027 award cycle
- Project title and abstract (100 word-limit)
- Project description (Grants-in Aid application 800-word limit; Research Scholarship application 1,500-word limit)
- This should cover a hypothesis and specific aims, a brief background of the project, and brief explanation of methods used for the planned experiments.
- Resume (2 page limit)
- A brief resume-style summary of the candidate’s academic history and professional experiences.
- Two letters of recommendation
- One letter from an advisor or department head, and one letter from another person qualified to evaluate the candidate’s ability to perform the research proposed.
- Budget proposal
- This should show how the Ruth Dickie award or grant-in-aid will supplement the funding for your entire research project.
- (Optional) Relevant personal factors (200 word-limit)
- This should discuss any relevant personal factors that should be considered in evaluating your proposal, plus the impact these funds may have on your graduate studies.
Call for reviewers
We are seeking postdoctoral researchers, staff scientists, and academic professionals to serve as reviewers for the 2026-27 Ruth Dickie Scholarship and Grant-in-Aid applications.
Reviewing is a valuable opportunity to support the UW-Madison research community while gaining experience in the grant evaluation process. Reviewers will be recognized and rewarded for their time and contributions.
Who can be a reviewer?
- Postdoctoral researchers
- Staff scientists
- Academic professionals
How to sign up? Please complete the Reviewer Registration Form to express your interest.
How are applications submitted?
Application materials should be submitted via email to the GWIS Madison Chapter scholarship coordinators (Natalie González Velázquez; ngonzalezvel@wisc.edu and Usha Polaki; vpolaki@wisc.edu).
All submissions should be in word or PDF format and given filenames in the format “lastname_year_grant in aid or scholarship” for our ease of use.
Helpful documents:
An overview of the awards and grants available is found here. A definition of the awards (including candidate qualifications and terms of the awards) may be found here.
If you have questions about the awards, contact our scholarship coordinators Natalie González Velázquez and Usha Polaki.
A list of past recipients of the Ruth Dickie awards may be found here.
The application form can be accessed here. For submission guidelines, please review information listed here.