FACULTY RESEARCH COMMITTEE
STUDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM
Competitions to be held in 2015-16 for summer 2016 or the 2016-17 Academic Year
The purpose of the Student Research Program is to enable faculty to provide supervised research
opportunities for undergraduates.
DEADLINE: The Faculty Research Committee will review proposals for the Student Research program
under two deadlines in 2015-2016. The FRC requires that all proposals be submitted online, as a
document attached to an e-mail no later than 4:00 p.m. on either deadline. Send the completed
application form to Kristin Magendantz, Director of Faculty Grants (Kristin.Magendantz@trincoll.edu).
Late applications will not be considered.
Applications Due/Notification of Results
Fall competition: deadline is, October 20, 2015
Notification, mid-December
Spring competition: deadline is, February 16, 2015
Notification, mid-March
ELIGIBILITY: All Trinity College faculty members on continuing full-time appointments are eligible to
supervise student research. Only continuing Trinity College students are eligible to be research assistants.
DURATION OF GRANTS: May 23, 2016, to May 19, 2017.
SIZE OF GRANTS: Faculty may apply for up to $3,500 to provide stipends for student researchers. A
stipend of $3500 implies 10 weeks of full-time work (or the equivalent). These stipends may be paid at any
time during the grant period. On-campus housing will be made available as needed for a period of ten weeks
for student researchers who are employed during the summer recess.
The principal criterion by which proposals will be judged is the educational benefit to the student.
Applicants should clearly and concisely explain the aims and goals of the proposed research, delineate the
specific tasks appointed for the student researcher, and describe the anticipated educational benefits to the
student. In evaluating requests for Student Research Grants, the Committee considers whether the
anticipated educational benefits to the student are commensurate with the specific tasks appointed for the
student.
Although the Faculty Research Committee includes faculty from each of the four curricular groupings of
the College (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the Arts), each
proposal is read and voted on by all members of the Committee (six faculty members and the Dean of
Academic Affairs). It is, therefore, imperative that proposals be written in language that can be readily
understood by a college-wide faculty committee, the members of which are not specialists in the
applicant’s field. Particular care should be taken to avoid jargon; if technical language must be employed,
it should be accompanied by a clear explanation. Care should also be taken to ensure that the proposal is
free of grammatical and spelling errors. (The Committee reserves the right to enlist expertise from faculty
in particular areas in evaluating the technical aspects of proposals.)
Decisions will be based solely on the written applications submitted to the Committee, which should not
exceed two pages (exclusive of the budget and references). Because the Committee expects to receive
more applications than it can fund, applicants are generally limited to one student researcher. If a faculty
member wishes to apply for more than one grant, a separate application form must be completed for each
position requested. Preference is given to applicants who have not recently had a research student funded
through this program. In exceptional cases, faculty members may request that a recently graduated student
be funded as a student researcher.
SUMMARY REPORT: It is the responsibility of faculty members awarded research grants to ensure that
each student researcher submits a summary of work to the Dean of Academic Affairs at the completion of
the student’s contribution to the project. The summary should describe the academic gains the student
made as a result of work with the faculty member.
In addition, each student researcher will be expected to present the results of his/her work either at the
College’s Fall Research Symposium (held in September), if the research was done during the summer
recess, or at the appropriate Spring Symposium (held in April), if the research was done during the
academic year.
The Application Form is available as a Word document from the FRC website. Complete the application
according to the instructions provided and submit it as a PDF document by the deadline. If you cannot
produce a PDF document on your computer, you may use one of the scanners available on campus that
convert a hard-copy document to PDF. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that converted documents
are complete and conform to the guidelines. If you need further information, contact the Chair of the
Faculty Research Committee, or Kristin Magendantz, Director of Faculty Grants.
Updated November 2015