Grants and Writing Resources for Villanova University

A biology major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Class of 2027, was named a 2026 Goldwater Scholar in April. The Goldwater goes each year to sophomores and juniors preparing for research careers in science, mathematics or engineering. Her 2024 summer fellowship project studied fungi in Florida's black mangroves, and her microscopic image of mycorrhizal fungi took first place in a research display competition.

Summer Research Money

The Center for Research and Fellowships pays Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellows a $3,500 stipend for ten weeks of summer research at 35 hours a week. Rising sophomores, juniors and seniors from every college can apply with a faculty mentor's letter of endorsement. The project has to be independent work the student authors. Grantees can also ask for supply and equipment money, and those who need campus facilities get CRF-funded room and board on campus for the ten weeks.

Students can start earlier. The Match Research Program places first-year students on a faculty mentor's project in the spring semester, and the Villanova Social Science Apprenticeship is a six-week summer cohort run by several liberal arts and sciences departments.

Where Student Work Appears

Veritas: Villanova Research Journal is the university's peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal, sponsored by the CRF and Falvey Library and published each fall in print and online. Current undergraduates in any discipline can submit, as can alumni within three years of graduating. Undergraduate researchers in the relevant field do the reviewing.

Seniors compete for the Falvey Scholars Award, which Falvey Library and the CRF have given for senior projects since 2002. A faculty advisor makes the nomination, and the five awards cover arts, sciences, engineering, nursing and business. Graduate students in the arts and sciences publish in CONCEPT, an interdisciplinary journal with double-blind peer review by graduate student editors, faculty editors and reviewers. Volume 49 appeared in May 2026.

Graduate Research Funding

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a Summer Research Fellowship of $4,000 for master's students and $5,000 for doctoral students, covering eight weeks of work. The project must tie to a degree requirement such as a thesis, dissertation, independent study or capstone, or be necessary for the student's scholarly or professional path. A student can hold it once. Fellows report back with a final abstract and a 3MT-style video, and they present a poster or talk at the Graduate Research Symposium.

Graduate students presenting research tied to their program can request partial conference travel funding from the Graduate Dean's Office, one grant per fiscal year.

Help With Writing and Theses

The Writing Center in 210 Falvey Library works with undergraduates and graduate students in 50-minute one-on-one sessions led by peer tutors. Papers over ten pages can be booked as a block of two sessions. The center says it aims to "produce better writers, not better texts," and asks students to come back at every stage of a project.

Doctoral students in philosophy and theology and master's students writing a thesis follow the college's thesis and dissertation instructions. The style guide sets a 1½-inch left margin and caps the abstract at 150 words for a master's thesis and 350 for a dissertation. Finished work goes to ProQuest as a single PDF with all fonts embedded, and the signed approval page goes to Graduate Studies separately. Falvey Library's ProQuest posting guide walks through the citation, permissions and publishing options.

Before a thesis goes to ProQuest or an article goes out for review, our editors can give it a final check for grammar, consistency and format. See our Villanova University dissertation and thesis editing and Villanova University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Secret to Better Grades: Starting Your Writing Process Early
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• ProQuest Readiness: The Final Mechanical Audit