Global Field Experience Financial Award
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The Global Field Experience (GFE) Financial Award is a unique scholarship offered by the Rollins School of Public Health. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage students interested in global health to participate in supervised field training which will facilitate the transfer of classroom knowledge into practical experiences.
Thank you to GFEFA for supporting me to accomplish a practicum in a beautiful country. A "Thermometer Hero" initiative to enhance health literacy among local children aged 10 to 15 in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. This activity focuses on remote areas in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Timor Island, Sabu Island, Rote Island, Pantar Island, Semau Island, and Alor Island. I selected six schools on these six islands to accomplish this activity. I collaborated with a local NGO named Pijar Timur Indonesia, which also focuses on developing education and health for children.
2022 GFE Financial Award recipient
Guidelines
- About the Global Field Experience Award: GFE Financial Awards provide supplemental funding to support Rollins student summer field experiences in low- and middle-income countries. They may be used to provide supplemental funding to support "glocal" summer field experiences. In this case, these are experiential learning opportunities in the United States that work alongside unserved, underserved, or marginal populations.
- Award Amount: The total amount of funding awarded each cycle will be based on availability of funds in a given year, the number of students who apply and the quality of the applications.
- Global Field Experience Eligibility: MPH and MSPH students are eligible to submit a proposal for a GFE Financial Award. They must have completed a minimum of 9 credit hours at Rollins and must be enrolled in Summer 2026 or Fall 2026 to qualify for the award.
- Application Requirement - Securing an Opportunity: Additionally, they must have connected with a faculty advisor and secured an opportunity with a host organization prior to applying for the GFE Financial Award. They must work with their faculty and host organization to develop a project that is:
- Well-defined, rational, and feasible
- Integral to the student’s public health training
- Of measurable value to the host organization/community, and
- Based in a clearly articulated, mutually beneficial partnership
- For additional questions about the GFE Financial Award, please contact rollins.pase@emory.edu.
Criteria
GFEFA Student, Project, and Site Eligibility and Exclusion Criteria
- Global Field Experience Eligibility: MPH and MSPH students are eligible to submit a proposal for a GFE Financial Award. They must have completed a minimum of 9 credit hours at Rollins and must be enrolled in Summer 2026 or Fall 2026 to qualify for the award.
- Securing a Project: Additionally, they must have connected with a faculty advisor and secured an opportunity with a host organization / site prior to applying for the GFE Financial Award. They must work with their faculty and host organization to develop a project that is:
- Well-defined, rational, and feasible
- Integral to the student’s public health training
- Of measurable value to the host organization/community, and
- Based in a clearly articulated, mutually beneficial partnership
- Experiential Learning: For the purposes of GFEFA, a field experience is defined as applying public health knowledge and skills in partnership with a community to advance the well-being of a population(s); this includes but is not limited to research projects with an experiential learning component (e.g. direct interaction with global and glocal communities).
- Timeline: The field experience must be a minimum of six weeks, but average field experiences are between 6 ‐ 12 weeks.
- Additional Project Requirements: Funding is not provided for student travel that can be categorized as medical or public health "tourism;" short term mission opportunities; or shadowing clinicians in settings abroad. Students are also warned not to fall prey to third-party companies that "sell" experiences in LMIC and call these APE even though they do not offer public health supervision nor a specific implementation/research partner. Such organizations often charge for a services such as tuition, enrollment, or registration. If you are not sure if your site is eligible, please contact the PASE Center at rollins.pase@emory.edu.
- GFE requires that projects take place in low- and middle-income (LMIC) nations as defined by the World Bank or within indigenous regions, e.g. tribal designated statistical areas (TDSAs), land base or reservations.
- Consideration will be given to projects in the United States and other high-income countries for specific projects related to underserved or marginal populations, e.g. refugee populations in Belgium, post-hurricane environmental data collection in Puerto Rico or Zika virus education and surveillance in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The GFE Program Team will not consider applications to countries with a U.S. State Department Level 4 warning at the time of application. Level 3 applications will be reviewed and approved by the GFE Team.
- Should the risk of a project site escalate after funds are awarded, additional criteria may apply and there is a chance the trip may not occur at all. In addition, travel to all countries under trade or economic embargoes by the United States government (OFAC) require a specific endorsement by Emory's international insurance carrier.
- There may be modified site eligibility in Summer 2026 based on US State Department or Emory University Travel Recommendations.
- All students selected for the GFE Financial Award will be required to complete a Public Health Pre-Departure Course to meet all safety and security requirements for Emory-sponsored travel.
Information for Current Students and Faculty
Get more details about the Global Field Experience Award on 12Twenty (Login Required) from the most recent information session.
Studying in Nicaragua
Rollins alum, Samantha Luffy, MPH, pursued the Global Field Experience while in the Global Health program. She designed a qualitative study in Nicaragua composed of focus groups and in-depth interviews where women could discuss their experiences surrounding unintended pregnancy in the context of Nicaragua’s national law that bans abortion in all circumstances. “It was one of the most valuable things that stands out in my career at Rollins. I feel like that experience opened the door to all of these professional accomplishments that I can now look back on and say, I did this from square one.”
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