The National Science Foundation made a significant change to their eligibility guidelines for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program this year, according to Michele Leasor, Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. Graduate students can apply only once for the grant, as opposed to twice in the past. The end result is that seniors going to graduate school and planning careers in research should be strongly encouraged to apply. They will be more competitive than in the past and the senior year will be the only time that they get the practice of completing the application.
Please encourage your bright and high-achieving students who are going into a field funded by NSF to consider applying. Deadlines for 2016:
- October 24: Geosciences, Life Sciences
- October 25: Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Engineering, Materials Research
- October 27: Psychology, Social Sciences, STEM Education and Learning
- October 28: Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
- November 3: All Reference Letters Must Be Submitted by 5 p.m. (ET)
Even though the NSF does not require a University of Portland endorsement, the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement is more than willing to work with students in the preparation of an application. For more information about the program, visit https://www.nsfgrfp.org/. Contact scholars@up.edu if you have any questions.
Faculty members are reminded to load their scholarly activity on the portal in PilotsUP. Data obtained through the portal will be used to populate A Community of Scholars, published by the provost’s office. That data will also be used for the Clark Library’s annual celebration of UP authors. Faculty members will send the data to their respective deans as a part of annual self-evaluation, and they can also use it to develop their personal curriculum vitae.
As the semester draws to a close, faculty are asked to take a moment to reflect on freshmen and sophomores who might be strong candidates for University-endorsed awards, such as Fulbright grants. The Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement’s Talent Identification Program (T.I.P.) uses faculty to help identify high achieving students early in their careers, marking them as potential candidates for various fellowships, grants, and scholarships.
The scholarly activity portal is always live and ready for faculty input on PilotsUP under the “Academics” tab. The data obtained via the portal is used to populate A Community of Scholars, published annually by the provost’s office. That data will also be used for the Clark Library’s annual celebration of UP authors. Additionally, faculty members will send a report from their portal to their respective deans as a part of the annual self-evaluation, and they can also use the data entered to develop their personal curriculum vitae.
Submissions for the University’s annual Founders’ Day celebration are due Thursday, March 3, by 11:59 p.m. Faculty who have questions about the Founders’ Day schedule and how to submit student presenters’ data for the schedule can speak to their school’s liaison (listed below) or contact Michele Leasor, program coordinator, at 8264 or 
