Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research, Funding, and Awards

Research Opportunities

For undergraduate students of anthropology, research opportunities can come in the form of fellowship or scholarship programs, field schools, and internships, paid and non-paid. Here are some ideas of how to go about doing anthropological research.

Study abroad

Penn Abroad Announcements Newsletter is designed to keep you abreast of upcoming events, information sessions, program/scholarship deadlines and other information concerning study abroad at the University of Pennsylvania: http://sa.oip.upenn.edu/

Penn policy for obtaining academic credit: Please read
Subscribe to PennAbroad-Announce: Send an email to listserv@lists.upenn.edu. In the body of the email type only: subscribe pennabroad-announce

Internships and volunteer programs

Penn Career Services has a comprehensive list of online resources for finding international internship opportunities: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/internationalinternships.html. Some of them include:

Abroad China, Summer Internship Program (intern; intern/study; language study options): http://www.abroadchina.net/intership/SUMMER.asp
BUNAC, work and volunteer programs in Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Peru, Cambodia and South Africa: http://www.bunac.org/

Archaeology field schools

If interested in attending a particular field school, please check whether the school accredited, and affiliated with a known educational institution.

Applied Heritage Management Field School - Heritage and Ecology of South Western Australia: http://www.naturalheritage.org.au/Field_School.html
American Institute for Roman Culture Summer Archaeology Field School: http://www.romanculture.org/index.php?page=field-school
Maya Research Program: http://www.mayaresearchprogram.org/
Mugello Valley Archaeological Project and Poggio Colla Field School: http://smu.edu/poggio/ (Link under Penn Museum Research Projects: http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/research_projects.shtml)
National Center for the Preservation Technology & Training: http://www.ncptt.nps.gov/Training/Default.aspx
National Park Service, Archaeology Program: http://www.nps.gov/history/archeology/sites/npsites.htm
USF Mesoamerican Field School: Six-week summer research program. Application available at http://uweb.cas.usf.edu/~cwells/roatan (deadline: Jan 15, 2009 or until the program is filled)

Museum research

Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology: Internship opportunities listed through CURF http://www.upenn.edu/curf/research/research_internships.htm
NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/
- Native Voices: Past and Present, Univ. of Pennsylvania: http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/NSF-REUsite/museum/program.shtml
Smithsonian Internships: http://intern.si.edu/index.html

Research in health, bio, and medicine

National Institutes of Health, NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program: One-year, renewable scholarship (up to four years) which covers costs of undergraduate tuition as well as providing placement in a summer lab program and one year of post-graduate work. For students from "disadvantaged backgrounds." Visit https://ugsp.nih.gov/
Paul W. Zuccaire Internship Program, The Pasteur Foundation: A 10-week summer internships program for undergraduates with a particular interest in the biological sciences. Visit http://cas.nyu.edu/object/Pasteur_Foundation.html
Search: Rochester Institute of Technology extensive list of biomedical research and premedical student internships, http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm
Search: International Health Opportunities Directory, compiled by Global Health Action Committee of the American Medical Student Association, http://www.amsa.org/global/ih/ihopps.cfm
Search: Health Services Research by Penn's Summer Undergraduate Minority Research Program, http://www.upenn.edu/ldi/sumr/

Language programs

Academic Year and Summer Programs in Japanese language training: Applicants must have completed 2 years or more of college-level study of Japanese or the equivalent. Deadlines (receipt); January 15 for AY program; March 15 for Summer. http://www.iucjapan.org/
CASA (Center for Arabic Study Abroad), Summer and Full Year Programs: Fellowships for advanced Arabic language study at the American University in Cairo for graduate and upper-division undergraduate students committed to a career in Middle East Studies. Programs are: 1) a two-month summer Institute concentrating on Colloquial Egyptian Arabic, and; 2) a full-year program including Colloquial but emphasizing literary Arabic (former, mostly for graduate students). http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/casa/
Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes, US Department of State and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsored, Council of American Overseas Research Center (CAORC) administered: Scholarships (tuition, room, board, travel) for intensive overseas study of critical-need languages such as Arabic, Azerbaijani [intermediate & advanced], Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish and Urdu. Must be US citizen. http://www.clscholarship.org/home.php
Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies-Yokohama
Korea Foundation Fellowship for Korean Language Training: 6, 9, or 12 month fellowships (tuition, monthly living stipend) for the full-time study of Korean language at a Korean university language institute (usually Seoul National, Yonsei or Korea University). Applicants must already have basic knowledge of and ability to communicate in Korean, however, applicants who plan a long-term career in Korean studies can be considered even if they are just beginning language study. Deadline: July 31 of the year before the fellowship is actually to begin. http://www.kf.or.kr/
The Language Flagship Fellowship, National Security Education Program (NSEP): Fellowships designed to promote advanced competency in critical languages (Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Persian/Farsi, Russian, Central Asian Languages [Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, & Uzbek]) through a combination of intensive campus curricula and overseas immersion. Applicants must be US citizens. http://borenawards.org/the_language_flagship/home.html

Funding Opportunities

Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) at Penn: The School of Arts and Sciences administers a number of competitive grants for undergraduate research. These funds can offset costs involved in doing research and analysis related to the Undergraduate Thesis in Anthropology. Use the following links for a comprehensive search.

Undergraduate research grants
Undergraduate fellowships
Summer programs
Department of Anthropology ("Connect to Research Directory" and do a search)

Internal sources

The Department of Anthropology Undergraduate Research Fellowship:

Eligibility Criteria: The Fellowship is open to anthropology majors. Minors may apply though priority will be give to anthropology majors. Fellowship applications will be judged on the basis of the mentor's evaluation, the quality and feasibility of the proposed project, the applicant's ability to complete the project successfully, and the overall scholarly performance of the applicant.

Please not that signing up for an independent study with your faculty mentor is not a requirement. Research can be conducted during the year or over the summer.

An annual workshop will be held to showcase research fellows' research and findings.

Application
Professor's Research Interests

External sources

Freeman-ASIA Program, The Institute of International Education and the Freeman Foundation: Need-based funding for study abroad costs. http://www.iie.org/programs/freeman-asia
Luce Scholars Program, The Henry Luce Foundation: For graduating seniors and graduates. Provides stipends and internships in Asia for an year. http://www.hluce.org/lsprogram.aspx
Morris K. Udall Scholarship, The Morris K. Udall Foundation: For matriculated sophomores or juniors, committed to a career related to the environment, OR Native American and Alaska Native students interested in tribal public policy or Native American health care. http://www.udall.gov/
Third Annual Provost's Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program: For faculty/student mento matches. On a competitive basis, PURM will provide up to $2500 for advising and guiding an undergraduate as she/he assistat in a summer project or in course development. An addition $3000 will be available to the student for a living or travel stipend. Program proposals should arrive at CURF no later than January 31st. Detailed information found at http://www.upenn.edu/curf/research/grants/purm/
Mellon Undergraduate Research Fellowships for any full-time undergraduate student enrolled in any school who is interested in conducting research on a humanisitc topic that relates to CONNECTIONS, the Forum's topic of study next year. For a description of the topic, see http://www.phf.upenn.edu/topics09.shtml. Application and full details are available on the Penn Humanities Forum website: http://www.phf.upenn.edu/uhf_cfa.shtml.
Ambassadorial Scholarships, The Rotary Foundation: For sophomores, juniors, seniors. (a) Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarships provide a flat grant of US$24,000 for one academic year of study in another country. (b) Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarships help finance either three or six months of intensive language study and cultural immersion in another country. See site for more information http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/EducationalPrograms/AmbassadorialScholarships/Pages/ridefault.aspx

Funding for graduate studies

Rhodes Scholarship, Office of the American Secretary: For graduate study at University of Oxford. http://www.rhodesscholar.org/
Marshall Scholarship, British Government: For two years of graduate study in UK. http://www.marshallscholarship.org/
Beinecke Scholarship: For Juniors planning to obtain a PhD in the humanities, social sciences and the arts. Nominees must have a history of receiving financial aid during their undergraduate years.
http://www.upenn.edu/curf/fellowships/fellowships-directory/beinecke-scholarship
George G. Mitchell Scholarship, The U.S.-Ireland Alliance: For graduate study in Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/scholarships.html
Gates Cambridge Scholarship, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Graduating seniors or graduate students, applied and accepted at Cambridge University http://www.gatesscholar.org/
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education: For graduating seniors (entering graduate school) and graduate students (who have not completed first full year), for graduate study at any accredited graduate school in the US. http://www.ed.gov/programs/jacobjavits/index.html
Thomas R. Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship, U.S. Department of State: For study relevant to international affairs, political and economic analysis, administration, management, and science policy. Women, members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service, and students with financial need are encouraged to apply. http://www.woodrow.org/fellowships/foreign_affairs/pickering_undergrad/index.php

Awards and Prizes

Penn-wide awards for completed undergraduate research projects

The Undergraduate Thesis advisor, undergraduate advisor, and/or the Department of Anthropology Undergraduate Chair may also nominate Undergraduate Theses in Anthropology for awards such as the Rose Award for Undergraduate Research. Detailed information on awards given for undergraduate research can be found on the University of Pennsylvania Guide to Fellowships, Scholarships, and Grants page: http://www.upenn.edu/curf/fellowships/fellowships.htm.

Rose Award for Undergraduate Research: The Rose Award honors outstanding research by undergraduate students and the faculty who advise them. Only completed research projects are eligible. The nomination is by the faculty advisor. Application forms are available from the Undergraduate Dean or online as a Word document at: http://www.upenn.edu/curf/research/grants/rose-award

Professional society awards and prizes

AAA Middle East Section: Student Paper Prize, http://www.aaames.net/awards/index.html
Association for Africanist Anthropology: AfAA Undergraduate Student Paper Award, http://www.aaanet.org/sections/afaa/awards.html
Association for Feminist Anthropology: Sylvia Foreman Prize, http://sscl.berkeley.edu/~afaweb/forman.html
Evolutionary Anthropology Society: Best Student Presentations, Best New Investigator, Student Paper Award
National Association for the Practice of Anthropology: Annual Student Achievement Award, http://www.practicinganthropology.org/
National Association of Student Anthropologists: Carrie Hunter Tate Award, http://www.aaanet.org/sections/nasa/awards/index.htm
Royal Anthropological Institute, Blackwell Student Video Prize: (Formerly the JVC Professional Student Video Prize until 2003.) Prize of £250, awarded to the most outstanding film in the ethnographic tradition made by a student enrolled in a bona fide educational institution. http://www.therai.org.uk/prizes/JVC_Past.html
Society for Applied Anthropology: Annual SfAA Student Endowed Award, http://www.sfaa.net/
Society for Humanistic Anthropology: Annual Student Paper Prize, http://www.smcm.edu/sha/student_prize_03.htm
Society for Linguistic Anthropology: Annual Student Essay Prize, http://linguisticanthropology.org/about/prizes/
Society for Medical Anthropology: WHR Rivers Undergraduate Student Paper Prize Competition, http://www.medanthro.net/awards/index.html
Society for Psychological Anthropology: Condon Prize for Best Student Essay in Psychological Anthropology, http://www.aaanet.org/sections/SPA/prizedesc.htm
Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN): Annual Christine Wilson Awards, http://www.nutritionalanthro.org/christinewilson2008.php
Society for Urban, National, and Transnational/Global Anthropology: Undergraduate Student Paper Prize, http://www.sunta.org/student_awards.htm

Do you have information that we can share on this webpage? If so, please contact the Undergraduate Advisor by email. We would appreciate your input!