As a freshman, Michelle Bulger ’07 knew she was interested in applying for fellowships to study abroad in France, but she never applied for any of them because of the “overwhelming” application process.

“I had no idea where to begin or how to distinguish which were for whom and what year,” Bulger said. “In between midterms and classes and trying to do other stuff, it seems like there’s never enough time to sit down and read through those laundry lists of fellowships.”

But finding the perfect fellowship is now only a couple of mouse clicks away with the Student Grants and Fellowship Database, an online searchable database that serves as the central hub for all Yale-administered grants and fellowships, International Education and Fellowship Programs director Barbara Rowe said. Starting today, students can use the database to search for grants and fellowships that match their eligibility and interests. A result of a joint effort by alumnus Thomas Barry ’66 and several University organizations including IEFP and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, the database can be accessed at http://studentgrants.yale.edu.

The database will help inform students of available grants and fellowships they are eligible for, Rowe said.

“Our main objective is that students won’t miss opportunities,” Rowe said. “Our hope is that students will see these opportunities, apply for them and bring these experiences back to Yale, and it can shape the rest of their experiences.”

Using the database, students can search for fellowships either by title or by seven specific factors, including region of interest, targeted applicant year and the purpose of the proposed activity. The database then generates a list of all the grants and fellowships matching these responses. The list can be sorted alphabetically or by submission deadline.

Upon successfully providing a NetID, students can add grants and fellowships to a “My Interest” cart, which they can access every time they log on. The database also provides links to pages providing detailed information about fellowships, such as award amounts and sponsoring organizations.

Barry, who gave funding for the database, said he thought it would be an extremely helpful tool for students. Before the introduction of the database, Barry said a student would have to use investigative tactics out of a “Sherlock Holmes” story to find a fellowship.

“It is very user-friendly,” Barry said. “It’s built for the student — who cares about the subject matter, country or employer, not what office if comes from or who funds it.”

The database will also help administrators across campus keep track of Yale’s fellowships so they can advise students more effectively, Associate Director of IEFP Linda DeLaurentis said.

“Every year I was finding out there were opportunities of which I was not aware and wasn’t able to tell students about, and this was frustrating,” DeLaurentis said.

Bulger and other students said they look forward to the release of the database.

“I definitely am going to take advantage of it as soon as I can,” Bulger said. “Instead of sitting around and reading about fellowships for several hours, I can just be pointed in the right direction of the ones that are appropriate for me.”