Geraldine Knight Scott Traveling Fellowship
This award is the result of a specific endowment made to the department by the late Geraldine Knight Scott, landscape architect, educator, and Berkeley alumna (B.S. 1926). The fellowship provides funds to an outstanding student of the Department of Landscape Architecture for significant travel after graduation. Travel and research funded by the fellowship would be completed by August 2026 in preparation for a fall semester 2026 presentation.
Physical and electronic applications due March 31, 2025 by 12pm PST
CED M.L.A. students are eligible to apply for the 2025 Scott Traveling Fellowship. Students who have received a M.L.A. degree within the current academic year (2024-2025) are eligible for the fellowship. They must have completed all course requirements, including the thesis, professional project, or comprehensive thesis studio, for the degree by December 2024
or May 2025. Students who have not finish their degrees within the normative time for that degree are ineligible to apply. Based on the quality of the applications, the Committee will determine the number of scholarships to be awarded. In the past, the Scott Traveling
Fellowship Committee has awarded awards to graduate students.
By the application deadline the applicant must provide the following (in PDF 8-1/2” x 11” portrait format, one file for all electronic documents):
- A brief statement indicating that all degree requirements (including thesis/professional project or comprehensive thesis studio for graduate students) will be completed by May 2025.
- An unofficial UC Berkeley transcript of academic work to date (obtained from Cal Central).
- Portfolio containing examples of course work undertaken at Berkeley. These may be design and graphic works, research papers, or other evidence of creativity and academic interests. All submissions should be a 8-1/2” X 11” portrait format. If the portfolio contains group projects, the applicant’s contribution must be clearly identified.
- A four-page travel and research proposal (8-1/2” X 11”, single spaced) describing the applicant’s intended use of the fellowship and the objective of proposed travel and research. This should, at a minimum include the following:
- A description of the research topic or theme for the travel and research. What arethe research questions that the travel and research will answer? The proposal should summarize and synthesize a selection of current literature regarding the research topic or theme.
- A clear statement of the proposed research methods (for instance systematic site observations, sketchbooks, measured drawings, transect analysis, environmental
science field methods etc.) to answer the research questions. - The application should include a detailed site itinerary (sites must be “doable” and related to study goals) and timeline for the completion of travel. This should
include information on where the applicant will go and why.
- A one-page detailed budget. Budget amounts must have been substantiated by applicant by actual quotes for airline fares, rental car rates, lodging/hotels, etc. for proposed countries of travel. If the budget proposal exceeds the available funds from the Scott award, the applicant must identify personal or other sources of funding adequate to complete the intended travel project. Funding for individual 2024-25 Scott
Traveling Fellowships can be anticipated in the range of $2,000 to $10,000 issued as a taxable stipend. - Physical copy delivered to the Landscape office by 12:00pm Monday March 31st 2025.
- Electronic copy submitted using the online form.
Review of successful Scott Fellowship applications: Past applications are available to view in the Landscape Office M-F, 9AM-12PM and 1-4PM. An example awardee application from last year’s competition is attached in the announcement email.
All application materials should be combined into a single PDF.
Upon completion of the travel program, the awardee(s) will be expected to give an illustrated lecture of their research travels to the students and faculty of the department in the Fall 2026 Semester. Awardees are responsible for contacting LAEP Office
(laepscheduler@berkeley.edu) by August 1, 2026 so that the talk can be scheduled.
Recipients will also be required to turn in 20 to 40 of their best images to the LAEP Office. If, for any reason, the travel does not occur, the award must be returned to the department.
Recipients of the Scott Traveling Fellowship will be awarded by May 2025 by stipend which will be considered taxable income. Please adjust proposed budget accordingly.
Please upload your application materials, as a single PDF, to the following website: https://forms.gle/2aUAWVFJs7jcMpoX9
FUND BACKGROUND
Geraldine Scott’s experiences as a student and the value of her travels in Europe thereafter are documented in her oral history (located in the CED Library). For twenty‐two months, Mrs. Scott traveled, often alone, “the better to see and record” through the cities, small towns, and landscapes of Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. She measured the great gardens and urban spaces, visited museums to see classic paintings, sculptures and investigated the new ideas in art and architecture. Above all, Mrs. Scott experienced the expression of culture and the sense of place. Throughout her life, with her husband, Mellier Scott, planner and author, Mrs. Scott traveled widely in Europe, South America, and Asia, finding value in what she saw in a particular place and in understanding why it looked the way it did. The adaptation of site, public place design, house and garden form, etc. helped clarify for Mrs. Scott what she should be doing in her own culture and in her professional practice.