The Center for Social Science Scholarship Small Research Grants for UMBC undergraduate students are intended to provide crucial support for research, presentation, and travel for research purposes.
Awards are made to full-time students who are pursuing a B.A./B.S. in the social sciences at UMBC. Students must have already exhausted all other relevant/available university support—including but not limited to such sources as departmental funding and undergraduate research awards—or must provide an explanation as to why existing sources of funding are not available to them. For students who are enrolled in joint degree programs (e.g., across UMB-UMBC), preference will be given to those whose primary affiliation or placement is at UMBC and/or whose primary research advisor is a faculty member whose primary affiliation is at UMBC.
An individual undergraduate student may receive a maximum of $500 per award. Expenses will be incurred by the awardee, and the final reimbursable amount will be transferred to the awardee’s home department. Note that salary support for the applicant is not permitted, and funds must be requested from CS3 within a calendar year of any award notice.
Awards will be made on a rolling basis and will be offered until the center’s available funding for this program has been exhausted. Preference will be given to undergraduate students who have not recently received (within the past 6 semesters) a prior CS3 Small Research Grant and according to the strength of the justification for the request.
Students wishing to apply should prepare a brief (less than one page) letter of need explaining the research-related purpose for the funds, a projected timeline for their use, the precise amount of the request, and why a Small Research Grant would make a difference in the scholarly goals of the applicant. Reference should also be made to which funds the applicant has already used and why no other support is available/sufficient for this need.
Students should submit an email containing their application to Christine Mallinson, Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship. Include the subject line, “Small Research Grant request.” In addition, a separate email is required from either the student’s Department Chair or Undergraduate Program Director, affirming that the department is aware of the student’s proposed research project and that all other relevant/available funds have already been tapped. This email must be received before the application can be considered.
Once completed applications are received, materials will be reviewed as soon as possible, and the Associate Director will respond with a determination on the request. All efforts will be made to provide a decision to the applicant within two weeks.