EAP Undergraduate Research Awards

General Information 2007-08

The University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP) offers undergraduate research awards annually in each of three disciplinary areas: the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and engineering. Each award consists of a $1,000 stipend.

The purpose of these awards is to recognize undergraduate students who have distinguished themselves through their excellence in research conducted while abroad on EAP, and to encourage other students to become involved in research efforts abroad. These awards also recognize UC’s initiatives to internationalize the undergraduate educational experience and promote undergraduate research activities.

Eligibility

Former or current EAP students may apply for the EAP undergraduate research awards provided that they:

conducted and completed the research project for academic credit as an undergraduate student on EAP and
have been an enrolled UC student within six months of the application deadline (5/1/08)

Research in any academic discipline is eligible for these awards.

Application Instructions

Deadline: Students must submit completed applications electronically by May 1, 2008 to researchawards@eap.ucop.edu. Projects completed after this date can be submitted for consideration in the following year provided condition b. above is met.

A completed application includes:

An Application Form
A one-page outline describing the research paper or other research product
A two-page abstract summarizing the research topic, methodology, results, conclusions, and relevance to the discipline
A one-page description of how the international experience contributed to the student’s learning and research activities
A Faculty Recommendation Form, completed by the faculty advisor most familiar with the research or creative project

Judging Applications

Applications are assigned to one of three broad disciplinary areas—humanities, social sciences, and sciences and engineering—by the Undergraduate Research Awards Selection Committee. This committee will consist of EAP personnel from the Universitywide Office, the campus offices, and the Study Centers. If the selection committee deems that an application falls outside the areas of expertise of its members, additional UC faculty reviewers may be solicited.

Research projects described in applications will be judged on the basis of creativity, rigor, clarity, completeness, and organization, as well as the degree to which they constitute original contributions to their disciplines and display students' facility with the research enterprise. The strength of the faculty recommendation and persuasiveness of the applicant’s description of his or her learning experience will also be considered.

Note: The application process above is constructed to assist EAP in nominating outstanding undergraduate research projects for a national competition for student research projects, namely the Forum on Education Abroad’s Undergraduate Research Awards. The winners of the Forum's competition are invited to present their projects at the Forum's Annual Conference and have their papers published in a special issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad.

Notifications

EAP personnel and students (outgoing and returning) will be notified by email of this program and its requirements and deadlines in October 2007 and April 2008.
The selection committee will announce the award winners in June 2008.
Information on award recipients and their projects will be distributed to the EAP community by August 2008 for use in outreach, recruitment, and advising materials or activities.