Announcing the Judith Kroll Undergraduate Student Research Award

The Judith Kroll Undergraduate Student Research/Travel Award

Application Deadline: November 15, 2021, by 5pm

Professor Judith Kroll, co-founder of the Penn State Center for Language Science (CLS), is deeply invested in supporting undergraduate research. In her honor, the CLS sponsors an undergraduate student research award.

This year, because of COVID-19, the award has been modified to support both in-person conference travel, in-person research, virtual conference registration fee reimbursement and virtual research. The applicant can decide what option they feel most comfortable pursuing.

Purpose: To provide support for promising undergraduate students working with CLS faculty for (A) travel for a national or international conference to present their research or conference registration fee reimbursement for a virtual conference OR (B) expenses necessary for the completion of a in-person or virtual research project (e.g., participant compensation, testing materials, recording media). The maximum amount available is $3,500.

Eligibility:

Who: Undergraduate students who are engaged in research with a CLS faculty member are eligible to apply for support for that research, or for travel or virtual expenses to a conference in order to make a presentation on that research. Because funds are limited, students who have been recipients of a Kroll award may not apply again.

When: Undergraduate students who receive award funds will have access to the funds between October 1, 2021 and June 10, 2021. However, funds cannot be awarded to students who have graduated (i.e., we cannot support travel to a conference in the summer for a student graduating the preceding spring). Also, funds cannot be disbursed to graduates. It is the applicant’s responsibility to plan ahead such that the expenses are incurred and can be reimbursed prior to graduation

Obligations of awardees:

1. Submit a one-page report on the research/travel experience and accomplished goals within one month of the experience to the Chair of the Travel Award Committee.
2. Give a presentation about your research at a CLS meeting before the end of the semester following of the experience.

Application process:

1. 1. Cover sheet with the following information: Your name, department, address, phone, email address and the name of your faculty research supervisor.
   2. Summary of research project - A 1-page, single-spaced, 12-point font summary of:
      • research question or hypothesis
      • why is this research important?
      • methods that were or will be used
      • predicted results
   3. Letter of support from your faculty research supervisor.
   4. If applying for travel to a conference, provide evidence that your presentation has been accepted. We understand that at the time of application, notification of acceptance may not yet be received; however, proof that the paper was accepted (e.g., an email from the conference organizers indicating that the paper was accepted for a paper or a poster presentation) must accompany all receipts submitted for reimbursement.
   5. A budget page showing the projected expenses.  There is an upper limit of $3500 for the award.
      • For travel to a conference, expenses would typically include airfare (or other transportation), lodging, conference registration, and incidentals (taxi fare, meals, etc.)
      • Research expenses might include participant compensation, lab supplies, testing materials, small equipment such as a portable digital recorder, etc.

      If you and your supervisor have any questions about eligible expenses, contact the chair of the award committee.

   6. A copy of your up-to-date CV.
   7. A copy of your unofficial transcript or degree audit.

Submitting your application:

1. All applications should be submitted electronically to Brittany Guenot at bdg11@psu.edu by 5pm on November 15, 2021. All application materials should be submitted as an integrated single PDF file with materials in the order listed above and emailed to Brittany as an attachment.
2. Questions may be addressed to Brittany Guenot at bdg11@psu.edu.

Deadlines

Applications are due November 15, 2021 by 5 pm.

Applications will be reviewed and award recipients will be notified within a 2 week period following the deadline.

Funds must be expended by June 10th, 2022. (Airfare and conference registrations should typically be prepaid using a university purchasing card; email Brittany Guenot at bdg11@psu.edu).

If traveling outside the U.S., you must receive approval through the Travel Safety Network (http://tsn.psu.edu/) at least 30 days before traveling, and the TSN approval email must be submitted along with receipts in order to receive reimbursement. NO TSN, NO REIMBURSEMENT!