PEAK Fellowship: The Trail Blazer Grant

PEAK Fellowship: The Trail Blazer Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Northeastern University
Amount: Up to US $6,000
Last Updated: January 29, 2026

Summary

The PEAK Fellowship: The Trailblazer at Northeastern University empowers undergraduate students to engage in innovative research or creative projects during the summer. Ideal for those in their penultimate or final year, this fellowship supports big thinkers willing to explore beyond their disciplines. With a stipend of up to $6000, recipients benefit from project-development workshops and the opportunity to showcase their work at the annual RISE Expo, fostering a rich environment for academic and professional growth.

Overview

About Us Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (URF) fosters a culture of undergraduate research and creative endeavor—broadly defined—at Northeastern University. Research and creative endeavors are key components of Northeastern’s experiential learning model. Experiences can range from laboratory bench work to the analysis of big data to archival research to collaborative theatre productions. This work can take place in a variety of contexts and formats, including the following: Courses, which generally fulfill major elective requirements Labs or centers Research or creative-based co-ops or internships Community-based research or creative endeavor Research or creative-based activity as the option for work-study work Research or creative endeavor as a service activity Junior/senior honors projects PEAK Fellowship: The Trail Blazer This fellowship is one of the Project-Based Exploration for the Advancement of Knowledge (PEAK) Fellowships. Please review the PEAK Fellowships overview page to see the entire list of experiences and determine which one is right for you; our list of Frequently Asked Questions about the PEAK Fellowships might also be helpful. You’re interested in questions that may lie outside of your domain of study or outside the bounds of what can be accomplished while you are enrolled in classes. This fellowship is for big thinkers who want to spend at least ten weeks of the summer making their mark – either by moving outside their disciplines or by making bold discoveries within them through full-time exploration. If you’re working within your discipline, you need to make a case that you are tackling, with great independence and sophistication, a significant project that can take your study and career aspirations to the next level. If you’re working outside of your discipline, your task is to convince us of the importance of the problem you’re interested in tackling and the uniqueness of the perspective you bring to bear. Then, convince us you’re the right person to carry it out by making connections between your expertise and what you want to know, crafting a clear plan of action, and enlisting the help of a mentor who can help you shape a feasible and powerful project. The Trail Blazer award is often part of preparation for an Honors Thesis or a Capstone project in your major, so it is most common for students entering into their penultimate or final year of study at Northeastern. Award Benefits The PEAK Trail Blazer Fellowship offers up to $6000 as a stipend. This money can be divided with your PI to cover the costs of project materials if necessary. PEAK Fellowship funds cannot be applied to tuition. Fellowship funds are distributed to the university account of the project’s faculty mentor if used for project materials. All Trail Blazer applicants benefit from an intensive, guided series of project-development workshops, and fellowship recipients are invited to present their work to the university community at the annual RISE Expo.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. This fellowship is for full-time, currently enrolled Northeastern undergraduates who demonstrate a great degree of independence and initiative in the development and execution of research or creative projects. Applicants should possess substantial prior engagement with the frameworks, methods, and techniques of research or creative endeavor in their field (whether through independent projects, employment, or co-op), or should articulate the connection between their experience and the proposed project in a way that demonstrates their readiness to take on significant work at a high level. Students may meet these criteria and apply for this fellowship at any stage of their Northeastern career, but it is most common for students to apply going into their penultimate or final year of coursework. We want to know how you are prepared to be a Trailblazer—and where the trail that you blaze will lead. Trailblazer Fellowships are awarded to individual students, and that student must be working with a Northeastern faculty mentor.