Research Grants for Graduate Students
RESEARCH GRANTS
The Center sponsors annual competitors for graduate students researching master’s theses, dissertations, or capstone projects on a topic in Latino or Latin American Studies. Application guidelines, funding levels, and deadlines are announced annually early in the spring term.
GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS
We anticipate having the resources to fund two supplemental research grants for graduate students researching master’s theses, dissertations, or capstone projects for fiscal year 2012(July 1, 2011 to June, 30 2012). The amount of the award will be $2,500 or less. We are also announcing two graduate student research grants for fiscal year 2012 (July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013), pending receipt of next year’s budget. These funds must be used to cover research related expenses, such as travel, lodging, and per diem, and are subject to university accounting rules and regulations. Original receipts must be presented for reimbursement for all items--including food and drink--and only those expenses incurred during the award period will be honored.
Proposals must follow the guidelines described below, and they are due in the Center by March 21, 2012. Applications will be ranked by the Center’s elected Advisory Committee, and award winners will be announced in early April, 2012. Proposals must be typed and double-spaced. Applications must also include a current curriculum vita, a detailed budget, an itinerary, and a letter of support from your major professor. All application materials must be submitted electronically to sedwards@niu.edu. In describing your project, please follow these guidelines:
Explain clearly in an essay of not more than 1,000 words, what you plan to do and why, making clear the relevance of the research to your professional development and the significance of the project within your field of scholarship. Give a brief summary of progress already made on the research project. If your project is part of a cooperative project, please explain the relationships. Also include information on any publication arrangements that have already been made.
Be as specific as possible, while at the same time, bearing in mind that the selection committee is multi-disciplinary, composed of scholars who are not necessarily specialists in your own field. It is requested that you avoid an outline format and that you adhere strictly to the 1,000 word limit. If it is vital to your research statement, you may add a bibliography of not more than two pages. Please be sure that your name is in the upper right corner of the page, and that the pages are numbered consecutively. Please head your research statement with a brief, descriptive title.
Grant winners must submit a report of no less than 1,000 words detailing the outcome of their research agenda within six weeks of their return from the field. Grant winners must also acknowledge support received from the Center in future publications, and be willing to discuss their work with faculty associates and students in a seminar format.
Current proposal deadline: March 21, 2012.