Guidelines for Elliott L. Blinn Award for Faculty-Undergraduate Student Innovative Basic Research/Creative Work

The Elliott L Blinn Award for Faculty-Undergraduate Student Innovative Basic Research/Creative Work recognizes innovative basic research/creative work conducted by individual faculty members in collaboration with undergraduate students and supports collaborations with additional students. The award is given in memory of Dr. Elliott Blinn, Professor of Chemistry, who devoted his career to sharing with his undergraduate students the excitement of the process of discovery by directly involving them in innovative basic research/creative work.

Number of awards and amount

• A total of $5,000 is available each year.
• Up to $2,500 may be awarded directly to a recipient. Additional funds, up to $2,500, may be awarded as a grant to that faculty member recipient to support the involvement of additional undergraduates in research.
• Up to two awards may be conferred each year.

Award criteria

• The significance of the project to the undergraduate student’s educational development
• The role of the faculty member in furthering this development
• The significance of the research/creative work to the discipline
• The faculty member’s plan for involving additional students in research/creative work
  

Supporting documentation 

• A statement from the faculty member that (1) indicated why he/she believes having undergraduate students participate in research/creative work is important to his/her development, (2) describes what the faculty member believes the student(s) learned from the research/creative work experience, and (3) explains how the faculty member would use a grant to involve additional students in research/creative work.
• A description of the project and results. This can be in the form of a copy of a report/paper/project submitted by the student to the faculty member to earn credit for the project, a copy of a publication, presentation, or technical report that resulted from the project, etc.
• A statement from the undergraduate student(s) that (1) explains what he/she learned about the process of discovery from the project and (2) describes the faculty member’s role in encouraging and supporting the project
  

Assessment of applications

The Provost and Senior Vice President shall appoint a committee to receive and review the nominations. The committee shall make a recommendation to the Provost and Senior Vice President on each nomination. The Provost and Senior Vice President will recommend to the President those nominations most deserving of the award.

Nominations/Applications

Nominations/applications and supporting documentation must be limited to no more than 5 pages total (not including attachment of course project or research paper described under supporting documentation) and must be received in the Office of the Provost, 120 McFall Center by Monday, by the deadline.

Nomination form