Description: One student will be selected for the Advanced Research Opportunity Honors Scholarship, which is intended to enable research opportunities for students who face financial and time constraints that otherwise might prevent them from participating in the in-depth research process associated with completing a Bachelor’s thesis. This scholarship provides financial support over three semesters of undergraduate research conducted towards the completion of Bachelor’s thesis in psychology.
Eligibility: Applicants should be majors in Psychology or Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Applicants should be accepted to, and subsequently enroll in, the three-semester honors sequence as part of this program (PSYC 398). Alternatively, students may enroll in a PSYC 290 research experience in the first semester followed by the two-semester sequence of the Capstone Undergraduate Research program (PSYC 492). More information on these programs can be found here.
Timing/funding: A student awarded this scholarship would receive $2,000/semester for three semesters, beginning in the Spring of their Junior year and continuing through Spring of their Senior year. Continued funding after the first semester is contingent on the student maintaining progress towards completion of the Bachelor’s thesis. Faculty research mentors are required to meet with scholarship awardees at least twice a month and will receive $500/semester towards their research funds as compensation and/or a contribution towards any costs associated with the student's honors project.
Match to Mentor: Students are expected to have identified a potential research mentor prior to applying to this scholarship program.
Application Process: Students apply for this scholarship during the fall of their junior year. Application materials include a one-page personal statement, undergraduate transcript, and a letter of support from their chosen Faculty mentor. The personal statement should explain how the scholarship will allow the student to increase the amount of time they spend on research by reducing their need to seek outside employment to address financial challenges. All application materials should be sent electronically to the Undergraduate Studies Office at psych-awards@mx.uillinois.edu. The deadline for applications is the first Monday of December by 5 pm.
Selection Process: Selection of awardees will be made by the Director of Undergraduate Studies in consultation with the Undergraduate Studies Committee. The scholarship winner will be announced before the start of the spring semester.
Progress report and payment structure: The first $2,000 scholarship award and associated faculty mentor funds will be dispersed at the beginning of the first semester of the three-semester sequence. Awards for the remaining two semesters will be dispersed contingent on satisfactory progress towards completion of the Bachelor’s thesis. A progress report should be submitted by the first two weeks of the second semester of the sequence and the first two weeks of the last semester in the sequence. These reports should consist of a paragraph describing the awardee’s research progress since the previous report. The student should send this to the faculty research advisor who should then forward it to the Undergraduate Studies Office (psych-awards@mx.uillinois.edu) with a brief confirmation of the student’s progress and the faculty-student meeting structure.