Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program

NOTE: The deadline to apply is: 4:00 pm, Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Any online applications submitted after this time will not be accepted. No faxes or emails accepted.

Program Purpose

The Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program is designed to provide financial support for doctoral students in the humanities, social sciences and other disciplines where students have little opportunity for academic apprentice appointments or other university funding relevant to their graduate training during the summer months. A specific objective of the program is to promote opportunities for students to work closely with a faculty mentor in developing a paper for presentation at an academic conference and/or for publication. General goals are to facilitate close working relationships between faculty and students during the early stages of graduate education, to promote timely degree progress, and to encourage a level of creative scholarship and research productivity that helps prepare students for successful academic careers.

Program Expectations

Participants are expected to complete a draft of a paper (either single-authored by the student or co-authored with the faculty mentor) by the end of the summer. This paper should be submitted for presentation at a professional conference and/or for publication sometime during the following academic year. It is expected that the faculty mentor will be in residence during the summer and committed to working closely with the student. The entire group of student participants and their mentors will be asked to attend occasional meetings to discuss their specific goals and progress and to provide general feedback on the program. The Graduate Division will offer selected programmatic activities (e.g., workshops on such topics as graduate school funding, human subjects protection, getting into print, career opportunities, presentations, etc.), and student participants are expected to make every effort to take part in these activities.

Students receiving the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship award cannot be employed more than 25% time. Students funded during the summer must have been registered/enrolled during the previous Spring Quarter and must be registered/enrolled during the following Fall or Winter Quarter. Otherwise, their summer funding will be cancelled, and it will have to be repaid.

Eligibility

The program is open to doctoral students in the disciplines indicated above who - by the program's start - will have completed at least one year but not more than three years of doctoral study. Students who have advanced to candidacy are not eligible. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Individuals who have not previously received summer funding from the Graduate Division will be given priority. Awardees of the Chancellor's Prize, the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) and other summer fellowships are ineligible to apply for the Graduate Summer Research Mentorship (GSRM).

Students may apply for the GSRM in only one doctoral degree program.

Program Dates

The program begins June 18, 2012 and ends August 17, 2012.

Award

Program participants will receive a maximum $6,000 stipend. Travel funds (up to $500) will be available on a reimbursement basis to support travel to one conference for each participant whose paper is accepted for presentation during the next academic year (i.e., Fall 2012 through Spring 2013).

All GSRM participants must submit the following to the Graduate Division (1252 Murphy Hall) in order to quality for the $500 travel allowance:

General Conditions for Student Travel (PDF-45KB)
Graduate Research Mentorship Recipient - Conference Travel Form (iPDF-182KB)
Certificate of completion for the online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Course

Deadline

The deadline for receipt of all online application materials and hard copy of supporting documents is:

4:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Incomplete applications cannot be accepted.

Frequently Asked Questions

For answers to common questions about the Graduate Research Mentorship Program please view the Frequently Asked Questions page.

How To Apply

A complete application must include the following:

A completed Online Application Form.

Submit the fellowship hard copies in this order:
An Overview of Research Paper (iPDF-165KB)
For presentation at a regional or national conference and, potentially, for publication. Maximum two pages, single spaced.
An unofficial copy of your Graduate Transcript (with Fall 2011 grades posted). An URSA report or a Degree Progress Report is not acceptable.
A copy of your Resume or Curriculum Vitae.
The Graduate Fellowships Letter of Recommendation Cover Form (iPDF-189KB)
plus a letter of recommendation on departmental letterhead from the faculty member who will serve as the mentor describing the mentor relationship and the paper that the student will complete during the summer. If a mentoring relationship has already been established between the applicant and the faculty member, describe additional mentoring activities that would occur during this period. An original and 2 copies of the letter of recommendation and the Cover Form must be in a sealed, signed envelope.

An original and 2 copies of documents 2 through 5 must be returned to:

UCLA Graduate Division
ATTN: Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program Coordinator
1252 Murphy Hall, Box 951419
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1419

Please paperclip the original and each collated copy. Do not staple.

Hints to Prepare a Strong Proposal and Faculty Letter of Recommendation

A strong application will contain the following:

Applicant's proposal and faculty mentor's letter of recommendation detail preparation of summer research for publication or conference presentation.
Applicant's proposal is written so that it is understandable by a nonexpert in the applicant's field; i.e., proposal will be read by faculty members in the applicant's field (e.g., humanities) but not in the applicant's exact department.
Applicant's proposal and faculty mentor's letter of recommendation detail mentoring activities that will prepare applicant's research for conference presentation or publication.

For Further Information Contact

Samantha Reyes, at sreyes@grad.ucla.edu or (310) 825-3623.

Application Status

Check the status of your application after you complete the online form.

Awardee Information

View student and mentor expectations along with procedures to apply for the Conference Travel Allowance on the Awardee Information page.