Swiss Society of New York

Eligibility for Applicants from New York University’s Gallatin School for Individualized Study

The Swiss Society of New York salutes the importance of Genevan Albert Gallatin by honoring him at the Swiss Ball on January 29, 2010. This date also marks the 250th Anniversary of his birthday. In recognition of the magnitude of Albert Gallatin’s contributions to the founding of the United States, the Board of Directors of the Swiss Society bestows New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized with the Swiss Society Fellowship 2011.

In 2011, applicants to the Swiss Society Grants Program must be in good standing and enrolled at the Gallatin School. The Grant is open to students of all nationalities.

Each applicant must submit a project proposal recognized by the Gallatin School and part of the applicant’s curriculum. The proposal must feature a field(s) of aptitude of Albert Gallatin. This could be: Diplomacy, Government, Education, Finance, and/or Ethnology.

The applicant’s project should answer this question: "What about Gallatin?" The project may explore Gallatin's legacy and how it connects to our world today, bridging our cultures and time. How did his Swiss origins play a role in who he was? How he contributed to the founding of the United States? The founding of New York University?

The 2011 Grant funds will be dispersed to several student projects.

The Swiss Society will publish on its Website (www.swisssociety.com) all details of application submission deadlines and applications.

Prior winners who have received a grant from this Prize Program are ineligible to reapply.

Members of the Grant Committee, the Swiss Society Board of Directors, employees of Swiss Society, as well as their families, are ineligible and may not apply for, or receive, a grant under this Prize Program.

Application Review Process/Grant Committee

Applications will be reviewed, and grants will be awarded, by a Grant Committee consisting of no less than three directors of Swiss Society. In addition, the Grant Committee will consist of no less than two specialists in the chosen field and may include, but shall not be limited to, members of the Swiss Ball Committee, the Office of the Consulate of Switzerland in New York, and a professor at NYU’s Gallatin School.

The Grant Committee will determine the deadline by which all materials must be received and will publish the deadline on the Website. No application received after the deadline will be considered.

After the deadline has passed, the Grant Committee will review each timely-submitted grant application and will select the winning recipients based on Evaluative Funding Criteria outlined below.

In its initial review ("Initial Review"), the Grant Committee will grade each application on a 100 point scale. After that grading is complete, the top 20% scored in the Initial Review will be the semi-finalists. The Grant Committee will then re-grade the applications of the semi-finalists on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest score (the "Secondary Review"). Note, if there are less than 25 total applications in a given year, then the top 5 applications determined after the Initial Review will be the semi-finalists, and will be reviewed in the Secondary Review. The top three semi-finalists will be the finalists. The finalists will then get re-ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 and the highest score after the Third Review will be the winner.

The decision of the Grant Committee in all cases is final and cannot be appealed.

The application for the grant is available on the Swiss Society’s website, or by writing to: The Swiss Society of New York 500 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1800, New York, NY 10110.

Evaluative Funding Criteria

Applicants should address the following evaluative criteria as they develop their application narratives and budgets, where relevant and appropriate:

• Professional and programmatic quality of your program or project activity
• Relationship of proposed activities to your master’s thesis or focus
• Professional competence, including your track record to carry out the proposed activities
• Scarcity or availability of comparable services in your field of study
• The application will contain information regarding a points-system, stated above, which will be used by the Grant Committee to determine the winner
• At least one reference is needed by a renowned person in the field of specialty
• Supporting information will be requested in the application and the submission of additional professional references may be required
• All information is kept strictly confidential

Restrictions on the Use of Grant Funds

Successful applicants may not use Swiss Society of New York grant funds to pay for the following:

• Debt reductions
• Programs that are essentially recreational, rehabilitational, or therapeutic
• Programs supporting political parties, religious activities, radical and immoral activities, money laundering and other unlawful activities
• Operating expenses of privately owned facilities, such as homes or studios
• Hospitality or entertainment costs for receptions, performance or museum openings, or fundraising benefits

Deadlines

Gallatin students must submit their applications no later than the close of business on March 1, 2011.

Grants will be announced in writing to the winning candidates eight to ten weeks after the submission deadline.

Reporting Requirements

Projects must be completed by December 31, 2011. Recipients will be required to submit to the Grant Committee a written report demonstrating that the grant is being utilized to advance the tax exempt purposes of the Swiss Society of New York and this Prize Program.

Download the Prize Application.