Department Graduate Awards

This award is for an Anthropology graduate student from any subdiscipline conducting preliminary field research in the development of their dissertation project. This award is shared with the East Asian Languages & Cultures Department, and is therefore given every other year.

This award is chosen by the Department Head and Financial Aid Committee during the spring semester award season.

Awardees

This award is to support students enrolled in the Department of Anthropology who are pursuing research related to the presence, history, culture, and /or status of African or African American communities.

It is chosen by the Department Head and Financial Aid Committee during the spring semester award season.

Awardees

This award is for an archaeology graduate student with research projects in American Archaeology. This award is made possible by a generous bequest from the late Forest N. Baker of Genesco, IL, who held a long-term interest in Illinois Archaeology. Graduate students will be notified to submit paper/proposal during the spring semester award season.

Funding will be awarded based on competitive evaluation of the intellectual merit and broader impacts of proposals for research in American Archaeology.

Proposals should be in the form of concise papers of no more than 5 pages, single-spaced in length; references, tables and figures are not included in the page limit; and a budget listing is not required. This award is chosen by the Financial Aid Committee.

Awardees

This award is given in conjunction with the Summer Research Awards. It is given to the best paper/proposal from a graduate student conducting fieldwork in any sub-field of anthropology.  Graduate students are notified to submit summer funding proposals during the spring semester award season.

This award is chosen by the Financial Aid Committee.

Awardees

This is a faculty nominated award given to a graduate student for academic excellence and promise in Anthropology. This award was started by the Edward M. Bruner family upon the retirement of Ed. Graduate students will be notified to submit papers during the spring semester award season.  

This award is chosen by the Anthropology Department Awards Committee.

Awardees

Established by Charles and Janet Keller. Preference shall be given to graduate students working on critical approaches to material culture within the unit. This fellowship may be used for ABD graduate students writing fellowships. Graduate students are notified to submit applications during the fall semester.

This award is chosen by the Department Head and Financial aid Committee.

Awardees

This award will be used in conjunction with summer research funding based on student need. This award is chosen by the Department Head and Financial Aid Committee during the spring semester award season.

Awardees

Established by Patricia O’Brien in honor and memory of Demitri B. Shimkin. The award is for the most outstanding research paper written by an Anthropology graduate student.  Grad students are notified to submit papers during the spring semester award season.

Papers will be evaluated in terms of their problem orientation, logical development, research breadth, originality, and contribution to the field and should follow American Anthropologist, American Antiquity, or American Journal of Physical Anthropology style guidelines.  It must be anthropological in subject matter and approach.   

Research papers, fieldwork analyses, independent projects, and Master papers are all acceptable entries.  The paper's text must have been written or substantially developed while the student has been at the University of Illinois, and must not exceed 35 pages (12pt. double-spaced) in length, including texts, notes, and references (but excluding tables, graphs, and illustrations).  Multi-authored papers must be accompanied by a statement of contributions made to the study by each author. In multi-authored papers, the student author must have written the paper.  Published papers will not be accepted. However, papers currently under review for publication will be considered.

This award is chosen by the Anthropology Department Awards Committee.

Awardees

Once per academic year, registered grad students are eligible for department conference funds, in the form of reimbursement. Students will receive up to $500 for those presenting papers or posters, while those not presenting are eligible for $75.

1. All applicants must complete the Anthropology “Online Travel Authorization and Information Form” found at https://anthro.illinois.edu/resources/student-resources/forms. Please answer question #10 “N/A”
2. Each student presenting a paper/poster must provide an abstract of the paper or poster, and a brief description (1 paragraph) of how it relates to the dissertation or other research.
3. Students not presenting, must provide an outline of key symposia they plan to attend, and briefly mention how these symposia are expected to inform their graduate research.
4. Students must be registered for current semester.
5. These forms must be submitted to the Anthropology Graduate Program Coordinator, Joyce Dowell at joyce14@illinois.edu, prior to travel in order for students to qualify for funds. Reimbursement will be provided to qualified students for costs (up to the amounts specified) upon presentation of receipts to Joyce after the meetings.

This program provides modest grants to PhD grad students for summer research. Priority will be given to students in any sub-field in the early years of their doctoral training. Past recipients are eligible to apply again, however funding priority is given to students who have not previously received a summer research award.

Applications are submitted to the Anth grad contact, joyce14@illinois.edu by the department deadline, so materials can be compiled for the selection process. Applications consist of a proposal, budget and letter of support from an advisor. Be sure to refer to email during spring semester award season for complete details.

Proposal

Proposals should be written in a professional manner and submitted with a completed cover sheet. The proposed project must be directly related to your progress-toward-degree, cost-effective, and one that can be completed in the summer interval.

The proposal should be no more than 1500 words (for steps 1 through 4) and contain the following information:

1. A brief abstract of 150 words or less
2. Statement of the research problem
3. Statement of the proposed research, including working hypotheses and research methodology constructed against a background of research in the discipline.
4. Significance of the research:
   1. (a) theoretical,
   2. (b) potential applied relevance (if applicable)
   3. (c) personal import (i.e., dissertation, career)
5. References cited
6. Research schedule (overall dates) and plan of activities
7. Budget
8. Human subjects form, animal research approval form, or artifact disposition statement (or evidence of its submission for approval), if applicable.

Budget

In order to provide the maximum number of summer research opportunities from the department’s limited summer funds, in most instances only basic assistance can be provided. We urge applicants to seek supplementary sources of funding and indicate personal or other investment in the project. Budgets must be realistic, modest, and cost-effective and should include: a) the total project budget and b) the amount of the partial assistance that you are requesting from the department.