The UC Natural Reserve System is accepting applications for its 2014-2015 Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant. The grant supports research by UC graduate students at one or more of the 39 NRS reserves. Graduate students from any general UC campus are welcome to apply.
Each award can total up to $3,000. A maximum of $38,000 is awarded each year. Students from all academic disciplines are eligible and encouraged to apply.
Applications and supporting materials (letters of recommendation, reserve use permissions) should be submitted electronically. All applications must be submitted by October 20 at 8 a.m. Letters of recommendation and permissions to use reserves for research are due October 29 at 8 a.m.
Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants are designed to provide graduate students with experience in applying for and administering research grants. Many students leverage the grants to attract funding from other sources. Many point to the program as providing critical assistance at a critical early stage in their careers.
Mathias Grant recipients are invited to present their results at a symposium held every other year. The next Mathias Symposium will be held in 2016.
The grants honor Mildred E. Mathias, a former professor of botany at UC Los Angeles considered one of the cofounders of the NRS. As chair of the NRS Universitywide advisory Committee from 1968-1990, she was instrumental in guiding more than two dozen properties into the system.
The NRS has been awarding Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants since 1987. In that time, the grants have assisted 399 students with a total of $715,264 in research funding.