Margaret Ellen Cater Hepler Memorial Fund

Description:
The Hepler Summer Research Fellowships are supported by the Margaret Ellen Carter Hepler Memorial Fund. The fellowship provides excellent graduate students with financial support to work on their research project over the summer months.

Amount:
The number of awards and the stipend amount will vary from year to year depending on funds available.

Eligibility:
Any HNFE graduate student who is actively working toward completion of a M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation project is eligible. Priority will be given to students who have not previously been awarded a Hepler Fellowship.

Requirements:
Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time student during the spring semester with an overall cumulative GPA of 3.2.

Restrictions:
Students may not concurrently hold both a Hepler Fellowship and another graduate assistantship for the summer. Students who have completed the collection of data for their degree and are in the phase of analyzing data or writing their thesis/dissertation are not eligible for the Hepler Award.

Expectations:
The study proposal should be composed by the applicant in consultation with the applicant’s graduate advisor. The applicant is responsible for all components of the application including the research narrative (specific aims and hypotheses, background and significance, experimental approach). The narrative should be written by the applicant and not cut and pasted from the PI’s proposal or published work. The proposed work should be distinct from the specific aims/hypotheses proposed in any funded work by the PI.

Hepler Summer Research Fellows will be expected to present their research findings/progress at a department hosted event during the following academic year or at a related conference. The proposal should consist of the work of the student, and should not consist of the advisor’s work.

Award Criteria:
Hepler Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis. Applications will be evaluated on the strength of the rationale and significance of the research project (justification), explanation and description of the research methods including statistical analysis and feasibility to complete the proposed project within the time frame of the summer months, expected results and potential impact, and limitations and future directions