GradPortal Exploring Grants Tutorial

The goal of this exercise is to learn how to locate graduate student support by following the steps in a series of mock searches of the websites of funding agencies.

Example I. Searching the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Grants Database to locate funding for graduate study in a specific state

Summary Steps for Search Criteria = US States.

Click award number #9972820 -an IGERT grant in Electronics- to view the abstract. IGERT grants usually contain graduate student support. The grant abstract often includes information on:

The Principal Investigator (PI) = Leonard Schaper
The Co-Investigator(s) = Gregory Salamo
The Sponsoring Institution = University of Arkansas
The research unit of the Principal Investigator = HiDEC
Description of the project focus = multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research in high performance miniaturized electronic devices.

Use information provided in the abstract to go to the website of the Principal Investigator -(http://www.hidec.uark.edu/?section=people&content=person&person=schaper)- or use an internet search engine to locate his web page or the website of the institution where he works (http://www.uark.edu).

Familiarize yourself with the graduate research programs and research resources offered at the institution.

Become familiar with the professor, his/her research, and the research facilities that he/she directs (Dr. Schaper is the Director of HiDEC, the High Density Electronics Center).

Professor Shaper’s contact information can be found in the University’s Directory. Other contact information is available through the HiDEC’s page (http://www.hidec.uark.edu/).

Carefully browse the web pages discussing the project collaborators (Gregory Salamo, a Physics Professor) to locate the faculty member whose research area(s) most closely resembles your interests (http://www.uark.edu/depts/physics/about/salamo.html).

4. Contact the Principal Investigator

Once you have learned about the project director/professor’s research, research facilities, funding and colleagues, you will be able to determine

1) The degree to which the professor’s or his colleague(s)’ research interests you.

2) How best to approach the professor in an email or other communication.

Your email or letter should incorporate a discussion of the professor’s work. This discussion will indicate that you have been reviewing his/her website and have an interest in his/her research. In most situations, this display of interest will indicate to the professor that you are eager to conduct research in his/her chosen field.

For project directors to succeed in their funded research endeavor (the IGERT grant of our example), they must employ a team of dedicated and enthusiastic research assistants. If a student wants to be one of those research assistants, he/she should indicate a serious interest in this research.

Here is a sample letter or e-mail that you can adapt when contacting Professors.

Dear Professor X,

J. Smith