Undergraduate Research Award
Have your own idea for a research project?
Every semester, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change grants research award(s) in the amount of $1,000 to select undergraduate students in its majors. Since 1998, we have supported over 60 individual students carry out their own research, many of whom went onto graduate school.
The awards allow students to explore a topic close to their interests, giving them unique experience for their graduate school applications in addition to gaining transferrable research skills and strengthening their resumes. Students are awarded a stipend for 9 hours of supervised study each week (of the semester that they have been awarded) to carry out their own research.
Eligibility
The student must:
- Be an undergraduate major in anthropology or global health
- Be in good academic standing (there is no minimum GPA requirement)
- Have at least one semester left at ASU before graduation
- Not have received a research award from the school previously
- Conduct research overseen by an ASU faculty member
Application Materials
Research projects should be well thought out and align with the student's research interests. These projects must be overseen by an ASU faculty member; however, independent research projects are desirable. Ideally, the faculty supervisor should be within the School of Human Evolution and Social Change because the money for these awards is generated by our faculty's research initiatives. If a student has a primary faculty advisor s/he would like to work with outside the school, we will accept those applications. However, we suggest that the student should minimally arrange for co-supervision with someone who is associated faculty within our school, in addition to their other faculty advisor.
Students must submit:
(1) A brief abstract of proposed project (100 words or less).
(2) A 2-page proposal (double-spaced) that states the goal(s) and relevance of the project, the methodology to be used, and the project's expected outcome. A student's advising professor can help with ideas, but the student will want to show his/her own ingenuity in the proposal. The student must include the following information in the top right-hand corner: name, address, affiliate ID and e-mail address. A current, unofficial transcript must be included in the student’s submission. All application materials should be submitted through this form.
(3) Students must have a letter of support from a faculty member that outlines how the faculty member will mentor the student through the project, the goals of the project and a timetable for its completion, a contextualization for the research design, the reasons for the analysis, and the goals/significance of the student's work. Faculty should e-mail this to shesc.undergrad@asu.edu with the following subject line: RAship + your name.
Selection Process
Because these awards are funded through faculty research initiatives, the number of awards varies from semester to semester. Selection is competitive and recipients are chosen by the School of Human Evolution and Social Change's undergraduate committee.
Decisions are based on the following:
- the quality of the proposal;
- the letter of support from the faculty member; and
- the student's academic record.
Once decisions have been made, students will be notified in writing whether or not they have received the award.
Questions should be directed to the undergraduate advising office at Undergraduate Inquiries.