Student Grants > Freeman Foundation Faculty - Student Summer Research Grants

Freeman Foundation Faculty - Student Summer Research Grants

Proposal Overview

The Freeman Foundation Grants are intended to support summer study by Reed students and faculty who are pursuing research in Chinese Studies. Grants provide a $3,000 summer fellowship for students and a $5,000 stipend for faculty for pairs that propose work of a collaborative nature. These projects are characterized by a more equal sharing of responsibilities for completing the objectives of the proposed study. Alternatively, $3,000 summer fellowships are available to students who will provide research assistance for a faculty sponsor's project. The work of the research assistant must be of an academic rather than a clerical nature in order promote student training in the substantive study of China. Proposals also may request up to $2,000 for specific research expenses. Please note that the award does not cover the purchase of computer hardware. It also does not cover requests for computer software already available on campus. Furthermore, any software purchased through this award must be returned to the faculty member's department at the end of the grant period.

For your reference, here are some sample proposals and reports from recent award cycles:

  • The Consul and the Commodore: American Cartography of Nineteenth Century Formosa (report) (maps)
  • Testing the research capabilities of "Formosa: 19th-century images," a digital library constructed by Reed students, staff and faculty since 1998 (proposal) (report)
  • Anthropological approaches to development and HIV/AIDS education in China (proposal) (report)
  • The Modern Warrior and Wushu Practice in Wuhan (report)
  • The Iron Dragon Came to Tibet; the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad and its impact on the local people and culture along the route (report)
  • The Ancestral Cults of Early Imperial China (proposal)
  • Travel and Commerce: An Examination of Xie Shichen's Topographical Paintings of Mount Wudang (proposal)
  • Property Rights in Land: What are the Key Attributes? (proposal)

No proposals will be accepted for summer 2008 awards.

Eligibility

Any Reed student or faculty member who is continuing at Reed for the following fall semester is eligible to apply. Juniors should note that this program is not intended as an opportunity to begin work on the senior thesis during the summer. Juniors applying for grants will be asked to explain the relationship between the proposed research and the anticipated thesis, in particular spelling out the unique components of the proposal that distinguish it from the thesis.

Selection

Selection will be based on the quality of the proposed project, its likelihood of providing a meaningful research experience for the student applicant, its relevance to the aim of the grant program, the perceived academic benefits to the faculty member, as well as other expected contributions of the project. Each awarded research team will be asked to produce a final written research paper or report, which is to be presented publicly to the Reed community during the following academic year. Faculty are expected to participate in the project presentation no matter whether they are collaborators or sponsors.

Requirements

The application for a research grant consists of four parts:

  1. A cover sheet that includes the following information: title of project; date of application; name and title of faculty participant; name, major, and expected date of graduation of student participant(s); whether the proposed project is for collaborative support or for research assistance support, and a brief abstract of the proposed project.
  2. A proposal describing the research question, the methods to be used, the potential significance of the results, what tasks are to be performed, respectively, by the student(s) and faculty member (for collaborative requests), or by the student(s) (for research assistance requests), a timetable for completion, and a proposed budget.
  3. A statement from each student applicant describing:
    1. how previous study has prepared them for this research,
    2. how the research fits into the student's academic program and longer-term goals, and
    3. (for juniors) what, if any, relationship the research will bear to the student's senior thesis
  4. A statement from the faculty applicant:
    1. describing how the proposed research relates to his or her previous research activities and to his or her long-term research goals, and
    2. supporting the qualifications of the student applicant(s) for the project.

No proposals will be accepted for summer 2008 awards.