American Heart Association Fellowship
Applications for our 2024 AHA Fellowship are now closed.
5 spots available
Eligibility
- Applicants must be enrolled full-time at or a recent graduate of an undergraduate degree program at a four-year college or university. Applicants must be classified at junior or senior academic status at the time of participation (summer 2024) or may complete the fellowship immediately following graduation.
- Applicants may not hold funds from AHA Scholarships in Cardiovascular Disease given by AHA Professional Councils at the same time as they are supported by an AHA Institutional Award for Undergraduate Student Training.
- At the time of application, the student must be a United States citizen, or foreign national holding a student, exchange, or permanent resident visa, including an F-1, H1, H1B, J1, PR, or TN. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status requires additional AHA approval to apply (please contact pauley.undergradfellowship@vcuhealth.org if you have DACA status).
Program Dates
For summer 2024, the program will be held onsite at the VCU Health campus in downtown Richmond from Monday, May 20-Friday, July 26. Participants must be available and willing to attend in-person for the full 10 weeks of the summer fellowship and be able to commit to at least 30 daytime hours per week Monday-Friday (actual hours may vary depending on your research project and arrangements made with your faculty mentor). Check out the Program Overview section of our website for a sample weekly schedule.
Stipend & Housing
This fellowship is funded through an American Heart Association (AHA) grant and the stipend amount is determined accordingly. AHA fellows will receive a stipend of $6,000 which will be paid in two installments (exact payment dates vary but typically in late June and late July).
VCU dormitory housing will be provided as needed (at no cost to students) for the 10 weeks of the summer fellowship. Note: Students are not required to stay in dorms if they have other housing options.
How to Apply
Applications for our 2024 AHA Fellowship are now closed.
Students will be notified if they have been accepted into the fellowship in February 2024.
Application requirements:
- Online application form
- Within the application form, applicants will be provided a list of faculty mentors and their research projects and are required to rank their top three choices of faculty to be paired with for the summer. Check out past faculty mentors and research areas.
- The form will include a personal statement section in which applicants must address the following prompts:
- Explain your interest in cardiovascular research and this program.
- How do your skills and experiences prepare you to be successful in completing the proposed research duties?
- In what ways will this research fellowship help you in advancing your academic, career, and/or professional goals?
- Describe a challenge you have faced and how you overcame it.
- Transcript(s) from all undergraduate institutions attended
- PDF format preferred.
- Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.
- If including transcripts from another institution from which you have transferred, please insure letter grades are listed.
- Two recommendations
- Recommenders must use our 2024 AHA Recommendation Form.
- At least one recommendation should be from an individual, preferably a faculty member, who can speak to the applicant’s academic/research accomplishments.
- Recommenders should email completed recommendations to pauley.undergradfellowship@vcuhealth.org by 11:59PM on January 30, 2024.
All application materials, including recommendation forms, must be submitted by 11:59 PM on January 30, 2024. Any questions can be directed to pauley.undergradfellowship@vcuhealth.org.