The Weller Foundation, Incorporated, announced that students who will be full-time seniors at Joel Barlow, Masuk, Newtown, Shelton, and Trumbull High School this fall may now request brochures from their school guidance offices outlining specific rules for the 2022-23 $18,000 Barton L. Weller Scholarship.

Established in 1978, the purpose of this $18,000 scholarship is to encourage academic excellence in a substantial five-month original independent research or study project. Students may begin to formulate their one- to two-page proposal outlining the student’s project in any field of study.

A student may submit only one proposal. Proposals must be submitted to their school’s guidance department for verification prior to being received by the foundation by October 3. Up to five finalists will be selected from all entries and will be notified on October 17.

The finalists selected to compete will receive $200 on November 3 to help defray expenses. The finalists’ project development period will run from October 17 to March 2 with submission and documentation of the project due by March 2. Final projects will be judged by a committee selected from outside the foundation’s Board of Trustees.

The primary standards for judgment will be the degree to which, and the skill and care with which, the original proposal is developed into the final project. On March 22 the judges will convene to interview the finalists and select the $18,000 scholarship recipient. The finalists, who have successfully completed and submitted their projects on time, will be invited to a dinner in their honor on April 26.

At that time, the $18,000 scholarship will be presented to the student whose project is judged to be the best, and all runners-up will receive $500 for completion and timely submission of their projects.

The Weller Foundation, Incorporated, is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1962 to provide financial assistance to educational, charitable, and civic organizations. The primary object of the foundation is to stimulate more responsible individual contribution to the community.