One award in the amount of $10,000 will be given to a UMass Amherst graduate student who exhibits the potential to make an outstanding contribution to the field of family research. The awarded graduate student will assist a faculty member with his/her research on families for the academic year of the award or work on their own family research related project under the advisement and mentorship of a faculty member.
Eligibility
Graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who:
- Is actively enrolled in a full time graduate program and is able to commit to a year-long assistantship (students can be at any stage in their graduate student program of study).
- Demonstrates a strong interest and background in family research.
- Has identified a UMass faculty member who is committed to mentoring and engaging the student in their family research project, or in supporting the student in their own family research related project. (* please see note about exceptions for having two mentors)
The Award
The recipients will be required to attend three roundtable sessions at the Center for Research on Families to briefly present the research assistantship topic to other student award recipients (May 2013 to introduce the project and then during the fellowship year 2013-2014: Oct. 2013 and April 2014). The student will also be invited to CRF’s awards ceremony in November 2013. Awards are processed through the UMass Financial Aid Office and posted to student’s university account.
To Apply
Student will complete application form including the following:
1. Complete and sign the attached application form.
2. Statement of interest describing any previous research background and how this assistantship with the faculty mentor will contribute to the student’s academic and career development in an area of family research. (one page, single-spaced)
3. Sample of one paper/project focusing on family issues (up to five pages single-spaced; these pages can be selection of a longer paper).
4. Up-to-date c.v.
5. *Letter of support from the selected faculty member. The letter should briefly describe the faculty member’s commitment to working with the student on this family research project for the academic year of the award, as well as their investment in mentoring the student’s own research aspirations. Two letters of support will be accepted, if your project requires two faculty mentors who are supporting distinct areas of your research.
Deadline
Applications are due February 22, 2013 by 5 p.m.
Selection
Applications will be reviewed and recipients selected by a committee convened by CRF. The awards will be announced on March 8, 2013.
Submissions
Please complete the webform below and upload the required documents. Confidential letters of recommendation should be given to Wendy Varner by email (wendy@sbs.umass.edu) or sent via campus mail (622 Tobin Hall) . Please contact Wendy with questions: 545-3593.
