Paterno Fellows have a special interest in undergraduate research since they are required to complete a senior thesis as members of the Schreyer Honors College. And the Discovery Grant–$3000–for research to be completed next summer. Do plan to apply—the deadline is February 8–particularly if you are now in your junior year (but freshmen and sophs are also eligible). You have a very good chance to win one of the grants, and the application process is really pretty simple.
There will be two opportunities for students to prepare competitive applications. First, on Monday, December 17, from 2:45 to 4:00 p.m. in 124 Sparks, there will be an overview and Q&A session for interested students. (If you cannot attend this session, write to Barb Edwards at bae1@psu.edu and she will arrange a make-up session.) On December 17 the application process will be reviewed (it is indeed really pretty simple) and most of all, advice will be offered on how to come up with a compelling topic for research. Then during the second week of classes in January, there will be an info session on the applications themselves (with examples of past successful proposals).
Note Well: For the past few years the College of the Liberal Arts has had more Discovery Grant winners than any other PSU college. The biggest reason, of course, is the quality of our students. (If you go to the Discovery Grant site, you can find a list of previous winners and the titles of their projects. Many of the winners are Liberal Arts Paterno Fellows.)
But another reason is that Liberal Arts cooperates with Old Main in funding worthy Discovery Grant applicants. That means Paterno Fellows have an excellent chance of being funded–if they apply! So do plan on putting forward an application, and do plan on coming to the info session on December 17.
You have a darn good chance to win, in other words. So give it a try!
For students unable to attend this workshop, an additional information session is scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2012, at 12:00 p.m. in room 107 of the HUB. Please refer to the event flyer for more information on this session.