As part of its Professional Development Program, the Graduate School supports a program of competitive summer research awards. Stipends of $1,000 each are awarded to as many as seven (7) students each summer. Among the primary targets are students whose teaching or research assistantships have lapsed in May and will not be renewed until August. The funds are solely for stipends; travel, equipment, and other operational expenses are not covered.

The objectives of the awards are

       (1) to increase research productivity at UNCW,

       (2) to enhance the professional status of UNCW graduate students, and

(3) to bolster the profile of UNCW as an institution offering strong graduate programs.

These objectives can be achieved concurrently when papers in referred journals or other forms of creative activities (e.g., juried performances) are produced by graduate students working in concert with members of the faculty. Funds are limited, and observance of the following guidelines is essential for full consideration of each proposal.

1. To be eligible, students must be in good standing and making satisfactory progress toward completion of their degrees. Students, however, need not be registered for either summer session.

2. The awards will support only projects undertaken jointly by a team composed of a graduate student and a member of the graduate faculty (the stipend is reserved solely for the student). The faculty member may or may not be the student’s mentor or thesis advisor; indeed, interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to apply. Faculty need not be from departments offering graduate degrees. The purpose here is to promote professional interaction among students and faculty, resulting in a joint publication or presentation of the work in a refereed or juried medium. Senior authorship normally will reside with the student.

3. All subject areas and disciplines will receive equal consideration. Primary emphasis will be placed on soundness and clarity of the proposal, the likelihood of meeting the objectives in a timely fashion, and the qualifications of the investigators.

4. Support from this program will not be available to either faculty or students who received previous funding unless documentation is provided concerning the disposition of the previous research project (e.g., a reprint or an editor’s acceptance letter). The Graduate School should be acknowledged in publications resulting from this program.

A call for proposals is made in the early part of the spring semester; a copy of the proposal format and cover page is in the Appendix. An anonymous panel of graduate faculty evaluates and ranks the proposals.

 

UNCW/Jamie Moncrief