Graduate Student Grant Application

Graduate Student Grant Application

Average per-student $400 (extraordinary projects can request up to $800)

These grants are awarded to IU South Bend graduate students based on a student-written proposal and application and a letter of reference from an IU South Bend faculty member who has agreed to supervise the project. The mentor's letter should address the student's qualifications, evaluate the feasibility and quality of the research or activity proposed, indicate the commitment of the mentor to the project, and offer assurance that the faculty member will serve as a mentor for the student. These funds cannot be used to complete assignments made as part of normally required coursework. No awards will be made retroactively.

Proposals may be submitted at any time, but funding is limited to availability.

Please contact the research office (research@iusb.edu) at (574) 520-4181 if you have any questions about the application process.

For the purposes of this grant program, the Graduate Council defines the term “research” as any original, investigative, or other type of scholarly activity.  As such, the proposed work may include a variety of original and creative efforts directed toward the advancement of knowledge and understanding within any academic discipline. The Council recognizes that methods of inquiry vary among disciplines.

Methodologies used in the basic and applied sciences, for example, will likely differ from those in education. Nonetheless, all proposed projects must meet the following criteria:

  1. demonstrate a degree of originality and independence on the part of the student(s)
  2. clearly stated research goals
  3. a realistic methodology that appropriately addresses the goals
  4. a clear and reasonable timeline
  5. results or products with potential for publication, presentation, and/or dissemination through other acceptable means of professional communication or expression.

For the purposes of this grant program, the Graduate Council defines the term “service” as any original project that directly serves the local, regional, national, or international community through the application of a student’s professional knowledge and expertise to a real world problem or issue.  The intent of this part of the grant program is to recognize that some graduate students may undertake major projects that directly benefit governmental and/or non-governmental organizations, but are not “research” as defined above.

The rigor of service projects should be comparable to that of research projects and must meet the same standards in that they

  1. demonstrate a degree of originality and independence on the part of the student(s)
  2. have clearly stated goals
  3. follow a realistic methodology that appropriately addresses the goals
  4. adhere to a clear and reasonable timeline
  5. produce results or products that not only benefit a service agency, but also have potential for publication, presentation, and/or dissemination through other acceptable means of professional communication or expression.

For the purposes of this grant program, the Graduate Council defines “educational leadership” as any activity that enhances or improves practice within one’s academic discipline. The intent of this part of the grant program is to recognize that some graduate students may seek experiences that directly improve their practice within their given field or improve current practice (e.g. action research, advanced certification, special projects), but that are not part of any research project and are not service related.

Like the research and service projects, leadership projects must meet certain criteria as follows:

  1. demonstrate a degree of originality in that the activity is not normally part of a student's work
  2. have clearly stated goals
  3. a methodology and/or action plan that appropriately addresses the goals
  4. a clear and reasonable timeline
  5. produce results or products that directly benefit one’s practice and also have potential for publication, presentation, and/or dissemination through other acceptable means of professional communication or expression. Leadership opportunities must fall into the category of Diversity, International, or Professional Development as defined below.

    • Diversity: The intent of this part of the grant program is to recognize that some graduate students may benefit from an experience in a more diverse environment than the one in which they are currently studying/working. This experience should directly relate to the degree program of study currently being sought through IU South Bend.

    • International: The intent of this part of the grant program is to recognize that some graduate students may benefit from an international experience. This experience should directly relate to the degree program of study currently being sought through IU South Bend.

    • Professional Development: The intent of this part of the grant program is to recognize that some graduate students enrolled in a program of study at IU South Bend may benefit from attending a conference, workshop, training program, or other relevant professional activity. In order to receive funding, students must clearly show that participation in the activity is directly related to and supportive of their culminating or capstone project(s).

Applicants whose research involves human subjects, animals, and/or bio-safety requirements must provide documentation of prior approval by the appropriate University review body.

All proposals must be reviewed and endorsed by the faculty mentor and submitted to the Graduate Council for review and action. Funds may also be used to support work which is part of an Master's Thesis project.

The Application

Include the following information in your application:

  1. Project Category (Research, Service, Educational Leadership, or Travel)
  2. Project Title
  3. Student Name
  4. Address, City/State/Zip
  5. E-mail Address
  6. University ID
  7. Graduate Program
  8. What year you entered graduate program
  9. Expected Graduation Date
  10. Faculty Mentor/Department
  11. Have you previously been awarded a Graduate Research Grant? If YES, give Title of Project, Faculty Mentor, Semester/Year project was begun.
  12. Does your project required any research compliance approvals, e.g. animal, biosafety, and human subject? If so, these must be in place at the time of application.

Using non-technical language, please briefly explain what you wish to accomplish, and how the Graduate Research Program can help. If you will need to travel, please give the reason, destination, dates, and number of nights. If you are presenting at a conference include the name of conference and give a brief description of your own involvement in the project being presented, describing what research you have been involved in thus far and how you are advancing this project (both research and writing) during the course of this semester.

What do you estimate your project to cost? In this proposal you can request funding for supplies, copying, travel, etc. Include a breakdown of the costs and a budget justification explaining what the item will be used for and how it is necessary to your project.

The Proposal Narrative is not to exceed five, single-sided, double-spaced pages, in no smaller than 12-point font.

The Graduate Council Review Committee must make comparisons and judgments across academic disciplines and methodologies. Because the Review Committee is an interdisciplinary one, proposal narratives should be directed toward a general audience and avoid the excessive use of jargon. All applicants MUST follow the general narrative outline provided below:

  1. Statement of the Problem/Significance of the Project. Be succinct; clearly support your statement with documentation and references and include an up-to-date review of the relevant literature.
  2. Objectives. Discuss the specific outcome(s) and product(s) of the project. If the anticipated outcomes are quantifiable, explain how they will be measured.

Research, Service, or Leadership Project Methods. Design a project plan consistent with your academic discipline. A reference page with supporting sources regarding the methodology or plan of action is required of all proposals.

Research methods specifics | If this is a research proposal you must include in your methods section the measures or instruments that you will be using to conduct the study.

Service project methods specifics | If this is a proposal for a service project, the methodology section should include: 1) the population to be served, 2) specific action steps to be taken during the project. If not explicitly stated elsewhere in this narrative, also 3) explain how your project will benefit the people and/or agency being served.

Leadership methods specifics | If this is a proposal for an educational research grant, the methodology must detail how the graduate student will incorporate an action plan consistent with the purpose of the grant as outlined earlier.

  1. Detailed Budget Explanation. Provide a detailed explanation of each budget item and explain succinctly why it is necessary for the completion of the project. Failure to provide a clear rationale for each requested item may result in reduced funding. If additional funds are required, please provide evidence of where these funds will be obtained.
  2. Final Products and Dissemination. Describe possible forms of the final product, (e.g., publishable manuscript, conference paper, invention, software, exhibit, performance, etc.). Be specific about the methods used to disseminate your results to a wide audience, (e.g., state the target journal for publication of a manuscript, the conference for presentation of the results, or the site for a performance or exhibition).

This letter is included as part of the proposal. The letter should include the following:

  1. the abilities of the student investigator to succeed in the project
  2. a clear explanation of how the student will act as an independent investigator in the project, including a description of the role of the student in conducting all phases of the project
  3. a statement justifying the proposed budget and/or where additional funds have been requested or received
  4. a statement of how the advisor intends to serve in the role of mentor
  5. an estimate of the time required by the student to complete the proposed work
  6. possible scholarly products anticipated as a result of the project.

This letter serves a very important purpose for the Graduate Council Review Committee (who are not necessarily experts in the field of study) reviewing the proposal. The statement should convey any pertinent, critical information and speak directly to the study. “Boiler plate” letters of support are not sufficient and may result in a reduction or denial of funding.

 

Proposals may be submitted electronically at any time to Erika Zynda (research@iusb.edu). Mentor's letters should also be sent by email to the same address.

Please allow three weeks for the project to be reviewed.

Contact
Graduate Programs

Listing of all graduate programs offered >>

Grant Support

Financial / Grant Programs Available >>