Sachs Scholarship at Worcester College, University of Oxford

The Daniel M. Sachs ’60 Graduating Scholarship is intended to enlarge each recipient’s experience of the world by providing two Princeton seniors with the opportunity to study, work, or travel abroad after graduation.

Daniel M. Sachs ‘60 (link is external) was a distinguished student and a fine athlete who intended to enter politics. Following his untimely death in 1967, Dan’s friends, family, and classmates commemorated his qualities of character, intelligence, and commitment by endowing a scholarship meant for students of broadly comparable intentions. The scholarship’s core concern is to encourage the development of individuals whose life’s work is likely to benefit the public interest. Students majoring in the sciences, engineering, and the humanities may fit that description as ably as those in departments more directly concerned with politics. Similarly, an intention to pursue the public interest in education, law, science, or medicine may be as strong a basis for an application as intended participation in fields traditionally identified with the public interest, such as politics, civil service, international affairs, and journalism.

Two Sachs Scholarships generally will be awarded each year, with one scholar named in each of the following tracks:

• The Sachs Scholarship at Worcester College, University of Oxford, where Sachs continued his own education after Princeton, allows the Sachs Scholar to study for any appropriate degree from the University of Oxford. The scholarship assures tenure of two years at a stipend sufficient for university and college tuition and a generous allowance for other expenses. In addition, scholars will be entitled to draw the $5,000 Susan Stark travel stipend, which may be used for summer travel during their tenure of the scholarship.
• The Sachs Global Scholarship enables study at any foreign institution or the pursuit of an independent program of the scholar’s own devising. Proposals for the Sachs Global Scholarship must involve study, research, or work outside the United States and Canada for at least one year and not more than two. In cases where the feasibility or desirability of extending the scholarship after the first year is uncertain at the outset, candidates may apply for one year together with an option to extend for up to one additional year under specified conditions, such as admission to a certain institution or course. Proposals should include a summary budget of anticipated expenses. For study at a foreign university, the scholarship will provide for tuition and a generous allowance for other expenses. For independent projects, the scholarship will cover up to a maximum of $55,000 per year for research, travel, and living expenses. Candidates should demonstrate that they have access to the institutions, milieux, or circumstances in which they intend to carry out their programs—and also that they have the requisite foreign language proficiency. In addition, scholars will be entitled to draw the $5,000 Susan Stark travel stipend, which may be used for summer travel during their tenure of the scholarship.

Anastasya Lloyd-Damnjanovic , [email protected] (link sends email)

The process of selection is not a competition in which applicants are ranked by order of merit but rather an attempt to identify those members of the graduating class whose tenures of the scholarship would be most in keeping with Dan Sachs’s qualities, and in whose prospective careers the scholarship would be most likely to have consequences of value to the public. If no candidates present proposals that seem appropriate, the committee may opt not to award one or both of the scholarships.

Seniors may apply for either the Sachs Scholarship at Worcester College or the Sachs Global Scholarship, but not for both.

Students should apply for the Sachs via the Global Programs System (GPS) (link is external) . Applications should include:

• A letter of proposal addressed to the Sachs Scholarship Selection Committee setting forth how they would use the scholarship if they were to be selected. There is no prescribed length, but 
• successful proposals generally run about 1,000 words.
• A current résumé.
• An official Princeton transcript.
• Up to three letters of recommendation. Candidates are encouraged to request letters of recommendation from members of the faculty or other persons who know them well and can speak to the merits of their proposal; no more than three letters may be submitted.

The candidates whose proposals are most appropriate and whose records demonstrate their potential will be interviewed on campus in early December.

Candidates for the Sachs Scholarship at Worcester College should note that, while Worcester College, like other Oxford colleges, generally supports only a specific selection of Oxford degree programs, Worcester has agreed to admit any Sachs Scholar regardless of his or her chosen field of study. However, a scholar’s experience at Oxford may be enhanced if the chosen field is one that is generally supported by Worcester (consult the courses tab on the Oxford website for more details (link is external) ). 

Study at Oxford other than at Worcester College can be supported by the Sachs only under the aegis of the Sachs Global Scholarship and thus only for one year. Unless it is uniquely suited to a candidate’s plans, a proposal for the Sachs Global Scholarship to pursue an Oxford program is unlikely to receive favorable consideration.

Sachs Global Scholarship proposals that involve study at established institutions are as welcome as proposals for independent projects. Proposals for a two-year tenure of the scholarship are as welcome as proposals for a one-year tenure. In all cases, the proposal should contain as much specific detail as possible, including a description of what the candidate expects to be doing on a day-to-day basis, an estimated budget, and anticipated living arrangements. Please note that the Sachs Global Scholarship is intended to enable the recipient to engage in a transformative intellectual experience; it will not fund projects that are primarily humanitarian in nature except in cases where they are incidental to a research or artistic endeavor.

The selection committee does not choose alternates for the award. It therefore expects that candidates who accept an invitation to be interviewed by the committee will be prepared to accept the award and carry out their proposed program if selected.

See answers to the most frequently asked questions, along with other resources, in the “Related Links” section on this page.