Six undergraduate students will receive fellowships from the Geneseo Foundation and Follett Higher Education Group for this summer. The fellowships provide a $3,000 stipend that students can use to conduct independent research under the supervision of a Geneseo faculty member.
According to Director of Sponsored Research Anne Baldwin, undergraduates hoping to receive the fellowship must meet numerous academic criteria and submit a proposal to be reviewed by a panel of 20 Geneseo faculty members, each from a different academic department. Baldwin said that the number of applicants for the fellowship usually ranges between eight and 12 per year.
"This institution has a very strong commitment to undergraduate research and to providing all sorts of transformational learning experiences," Baldwin said.
Until two years ago, the summer fellowships were funded solely by the Geneseo Foundation and awarded to only four undergraduate students per year.
Increases in funding from both the Geneseo Foundation and the Follett Higher Education Group have created two more fellowship awards and an increase of $500 to the amount of each grant.
Baldwin said that in addition to the six summer fellowships, 181 small research and travel grants valued at $650 each were awarded throughout this academic year.
"I think G.R.E.A.T. day and the publicity that it generates helps increase the knowledge that the students on campus have concerning research opportunities," Baldwin said.
Although Baldwin noted that the smaller research and travel grants "are not nearly as competitive" as the summer fellowships, provisions may have to be taken in the future to limit the number of small grants awarded should the number of applicants continue to rise.
"To date we have not had to rank or restrict awards," she said. "We came really close to having to make a decision like that this year."
"A general increase in research is something that we are very interested in," Baldwin said.