The UC Natural Reserve System is accepting applications for its 2017–2018 Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants. The program supports research by UC graduate students at one or more of the 39 NRS reserves. Graduate students from any UC campus are welcome to apply.
This year, the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program is supporting additional reserve research on the environmental exposure and health outcomes of tobacco use. Example research topics might include the environmental impact of tobacco waste; bioaccumulation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines in the environment; and how tobacco-specific particulate matter affects air quality and related health outcomes.
Up to $38,000 is available to support research in any discipline, while up to $15,000 is available to support tobacco-related research. A maximum of $3,000 may be awarded per applicant.
Instructions and application information can be found on the Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grants webpage. All applications must be submitted by September 11, 2017. Applicants will be notified by December 20, 2017.
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. The program provides researchers with critical funding assistance early in their careers.
Awardees are invited to present their results at the Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant Symposium. The next Mathias Symposium will be held in spring of 2019.
The grant program honors Mildred E. Mathias, a former professor of botany at UC Los Angeles who is 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.
Since 1988, the NRS has assisted more than 400 students with nearly$800,00 in Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant funding.