Supporting Faculty and Student Research & Student Internships

Review information on the following programs:

• Social Science Undergraduate Student Research Apprenticeship Program
• Social Science Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Program
• Social Science Undergraduate Internship Travel Stipend

Social Science Undergraduate Student Research Apprenticeship Program

Revised FALL 2024

Support for faculty to conduct high-quality research is a hallmark feature of a vibrant university and integrating students into that work is one of the many forms of high-impact teaching. The Social Science Undergraduate Student Research Apprenticeship Program was created to encourage faculty to engage students in their research by providing financial support for research apprentices.

During each semester (fall, spring, and summer), this program can provide funds for up to three faculty members to hire an undergraduate student research apprentice to work on a faculty research project which is approximately five hours per week for up to 45 hours total in a given semester/summer) to assist with their own or a graduate students’ research. Students may work fewer hours per week; they may not work more hours. The student receives $675 for the semester for the scope of this project. For a single research project, the funded faculty or graduate student could elect to have more than one student, but then the allotted sum of $675 would be divided among those students. Awards are for a single semester (fall, spring, or summer).

Within a given fiscal year (July 1 – May 31), if total funds are not awarded for each semester, the funds could be rolled over to subsequent semester to award more funds as needed as long as no more than 9 research apprentices are funded in a given fiscal year. Funds cannot be rolled over to a subsequent fiscal year.

A faculty member must apply each semester for a research apprentice regardless of whether it is the same project and/or student or not.

These funds are designed to support research apprentices who have not yet been secured to conduct this work with a faculty member through academic credit.

Eligibility

Applicants must be full-time Loyola faculty members (including full-time teaching and/or clinical faculty) in the social sciences (i.e., Global Studies, Psychology, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Political Science, and Sociology).

Standards for Proposals

(see rubric used by committee to evaluate proposals)

• Awards of these grants will be based on the quality and promise of the faculty applicant's or graduate students’ current research project(s), the extent to which faculty/graduate students need a student research apprentice (e.g., work would otherwise be stalled; specific tasks for the research assistant are listed), the faculty member’s (and, if applicable, graduate student’s) past scholarly accomplishments and success in mentoring undergraduate students in research, and the benefit of this research for the student research apprentice.
• The student's assignments should address specific research project needs, for instance, bibliographic work, editorial work, coding online data collection, and/or modest analytic tasks (e.g., summarizing secondary materials, data entry, coding of qualitative research, transcription). Applications should explain how the undergraduate student will benefit from the experience, though the evaluation of applications will focus primarily on how an undergraduate student research apprentice will benefit the faculty member.
• Priority for funding will be given to assisting faculty research over assisting graduate student’s research. Secondarily, funding will be prioritized for those faculty/grad students who have not received this award previously.

Procedures

1. Applicants should answer all questions on the online application and upload their CV (and - if applicable - their graduate student's CV) by the deadline.
2. Decisions will be made within two weeks of the application deadline.
3. If a faculty receives a research apprenticeship, they should:
   1. Secure a student to work as a research apprentice.
   2.  Submit the research apprentice's name to the Associate Dean for the Social Sciences and Graduate Programs by the first Friday of the semester in which the work will occur.
4. At the conclusion of the apprenticeship period (by the last day of exams of the semester that the funds were used), 
   1. Faculty should submit a one-page Final Report. This report should describe the type of work done by the student, how helpful the assistance was, any unusual tasks or arrangements (and whether they were successful), and any problems encountered. The report should also include the total number of hours the student worked.
   2. The student apprentice should submit a one-page Final Report detailing their experience and discussing how it fits with their professional development. It is the faculty's responsibility to ensure this is submitted.

Deadlines

Applications must be submitted online by 5 p.m. on the following dates::

• March 15 for the Summer semester
• last working day of May for the Fall semester
• last working day of November for the Spring semester

Application

Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of the Chairs or designee of all Social Science programs (Political Science, Psychology, Speech Language Hearing Sciences, Sociology, and Global Studies; all of whom are voting) and the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs (ex-officio, non-voting).

Student Research Apprenticeship application form

Submit Final Reports here (faculty and students)

Social Science Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship Program

This program provides funds for up to two undergraduate students to conduct summer research with a Social Science faculty member during the summer.

The student receives $5,000 stipend and the faculty mentor receives $1,000. Awards are for a specified summer and may be renewed.

Eligibility

• Students must be undergraduates and enrolled full-time at Loyola for the subsequent fall semester. Students cannot also be registered for any research credit or independent study doing the same work during the summer.
• Students must not have other sources of funding for the designated summer (i.e., they should not have received other funding such as a Social Science Undergraduate Student Research Apprenticeship stipend, a Kolvenbach grant, or payment from a faculty grant).
• Students need to be mentored by a full-time Loyola faculty member (including full-time teaching or clinical faculty) in the social sciences (Psychology, Political Science, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, Sociology, and Global Studies).

Standards for Proposals

• An application cover page
• a typed research proposal of 750-1000 words that details the nature of the study, its purpose, timeline delineating tasks to be completed across summer, and its potential scholarly contribution. (Please see evaluation criteria to guide your proposal writing.)
• a list of references of those to be examined in scholarly research for the project
• a resume or CV for the student
• a letter of endorsement not to exceed 500 words from the faculty mentor that addresses the project's merit, the competence of the students to conduct the project, and the project's potential contribution to the particular scholarly area. This letter should be sent by the faculty mentor directly to the Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Graduate Programs by the deadline.

Evaluation Criteria

The submitted proposals will only be reviewed on clarity of purpose, preparation, and methodology using the criteria delineated below. Priority will be given to applications to those (a) whose mentors have not been previously or recently funded, and (b) whose projects demonstrate independent scholarly work.

1. Clear Goals: Does the student-scholar state the basic purpose(s) of his or her work? What is the end goal of this project (e.g., manuscript to submit to a journal, conference submission)?
2. Adequate Preparation: Does the student-scholar show an understanding of existing scholarship and/or scholarly processes in the field?
3. Appropriate Methods: Does the student-scholar use methods appropriate to the goals?
4. Timeline: Are the estimated tasks to be completed reasonable given the proposed timeline?
5. Faculty endorsement: Does the faculty mentor strongly endorse the quality of the project and the caliber of the student undertaking the project?

Deadlines

Students must submit applications (electronically as a pdf document which includes the application cover page, the research proposal and list of references) to the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs by March 15 by 5 p.m. The fourth item, the faculty endorsement letter, should not be included in this PDF but must be submitted separately to the Associate Dean by the faculty member by the deadline. Questions about the fellowship may be directed to the Associate Dean.

Application

Applications will be reviewed by a committee comprised of the Chairs or designee of all Social Science programs (Political Science, Global Studies, Psychology, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, and Sociology; all of whom are voting) and the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs (ex-officio, non-voting).

Download the Summer Research Fellow application form

Social Science Undergraduate Internship Travel Stipend

This program is designed to offset transportation costs for undergraduate students pursuing internships (which also includes courses known as field experience) in the social science departments during the fall and spring. 

Eligibility

• Applicants must be enrolled in an internship course for credit during the semester to which applicants apply for the stipend. 
• The internship is unpaid.
• There must be a reasonable public transportation option for students to pursue to get to the internship site. In other words, students who utilize transportation by way of train/bus/subway (i.e., not a taxi or Uber). 

Deadlines

Applications are due to the Associate Dean for Social Science and Graduate Programs by 5 p.m. on the following specified dates:

• September 15 for the Fall semester
• January 25 for the Spring semester

Download the Internship Travel Stipend application form