Deadline: November 1, 2024

Two $500 awards will be given each academic year to support two SLATE students’ dissertation research. These awards are designed to fill a gap in current campus funding for graduate student research and to provide a springboard to subsequent external funding. For instance, a student who is awarded a SLATE Doctoral Research Grant could collect pilot data that would inform a later external grant submission (e.g., NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, postdoctoral fellowship). Funds may be used for any justifiable expense related to any stage of the dissertation research, including, but not limited to software and license fees, equipment, participant fees, and research travel.

Eligibility criteria

Any SLATE student in good standing in any of the affiliated SLATE Ph.D. program is eligible to apply. (Both Ph.D. students taking classes and ABD students are eligible.)

Applications will be reviewed by the SLATE Executive Committee according to the established criteria and the two top-ranked applications will receive a SLATE Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant. All applicants will receive notification (by email) of the outcome once applications have been reviewed. Award recipients must agree to the following terms: 1. to present their results as a SLATE lecture, open to all SLATE faculty and students, upon project completion; 2. to submit a short narrative to the Executive Committee documenting how they used the funds; and 3. to acknowledge the award in all future presentation and publication of the work.

Application packages must include

• 1-page project description, including both the significance of the project for the student’s career and for its contribution to the field
  • Times New Roman 12 font, 1” margins on all sides
• 1‐page CV, including education and publications/presentations
• Project budget (categories of expenses and projected expenses in each)
• Detailed letter of support from student’s advisor, attesting to the student’s readiness to undertake the project and specifically to the soundness of its design

Application materials must be emailed before 11:59 pm, November 1, 2024, to SLATE Director, Kiel Christianson <kiel@illinois.edu>.

Incomplete applications or applications received after the posted deadline will not be considered. Ranking will follow the established evaluation criteria.

Please note:

• Although it is possible to receive this award more than once, preference will be given to students who have not received a SLATE Doctoral Research Award within the past two years.