Apply to be a Lumiere Research Breakthrough Scholar!
Applications for the Lumiere Research Breakthrough Program are now open! The early admission deadline for the summer cohort is Sunday, February 18.
We are looking for students who have shown outstanding academic ability despite financial challenges. We take a holistic approach to reviewing applications. Please refer to the guidelines below to see if you’d be a good fit for the program!
The Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation is an independent non-profit born out of the financial aid program of the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. Though the two organizations operate independently legally, they work together on programming for students. If you are applying to the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, you will be prompted to offer more context on your eligibility in the application.
Class Year Eligibility
We accept applications from students who are currently enrolled in high school or plan to enrol as first-year students in college in the fall of 2024. We believe that high school students stand to benefit most from our program!
Academic Eligibility
We seek students who have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement. For an idea, students who have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 or above out of 4; 7.5 or above out of 10; or an equivalent percentage (87-89 and above) in high school are encouraged to apply! This is not an absolute cut-off, just some numbers for context!
Financial Eligibility
Our past scholars have typically come from households earning less than $50,000 annually for a typical household of four with minimum assets. This is not a strict cut-off — if you feel that you have faced significant financial hardship despite earning more than this amount, we encourage you to apply!
Previous Research Experience
You are not required to have previous knowledge about your field of interest! We are a community of learners, and we completely understand you not having a well-founded background in your areas of interest. In fact, a research program like ours is the perfect place for you to begin exploring something you haven't before!
Please note: We consider various factors when assessing a potential candidate for our program. You are a unique person made up of various attributes so we look at your personal story, motivation, participation in extracurriculars, and other accomplishments in addition to your grades or income bracket!