UCNRS

University of California Natural Reserve System

Field Science Fellowship Application Information

Field Science Fellowship
2020 Field Science Fellow Cynthia Frausto and her experimental setup to study ground squirrels at the James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve. Image credit: courtesy Cynthia Frausto

Eligibility requirements

For faculty/student teams

  • Funding is intended to support research in the field sciences.
  • Applicants must be two-person teams made up of a current UC faculty member and an undergraduate student enrolled at UC. While other students, technicians, or volunteers may participate in various aspects of the project, they are not eligible for this fellowship, which is intended to encourage mentoring between faculty and undergraduates.
  • Applicants must use at least one of the 41 reserves in the Natural Reserve System for a significant part of their field research project.

For participating undergraduate students

  • Must be seeking a degree from UC (short-term international students are not eligible).
  • Must be in good academic standing at a UC campus. Good academic standing requires the student’s cumulative GPA as well as the GPA from the most recently completed term to be at least 2.0.
  • Must be enrolled at UC through the end of the proposed research project.
  • Must be available to perform the equivalent of eight weeks of full-time research during the project field season.

Research approvals

Before awarding the fellowships, the NRS Systemwide Office will request pre-authorization for the proposed research from the managers of the relevant NRS reserves. Successful applicants will need to submit a reserve use application through the NRS’s Reserve Application Management System (RAMS) for formal approval. In addition, fellowship recipients will be required to provide evidence of campus Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approvals as well as all other necessary permits (state, federal, or other) where applicable.

Evaluation criteria

The following will be considered in the selection of Field Science Fellowship recipients:

  • Quality of the proposed research
  • Role of undergraduate in the proposed research
  • Faculty’s commitment to mentorship
  • Student’s interest in and enthusiasm for field research
  • Alignment of the student’s academic and long-term goals with the Field Science Fellowship research experience
  • The applicants’ contributions to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field sciences and beyond

Application process

Applications for Summer 2022 will be accepted from November 1, 2021 through January 20, 2022. All applicants must use our online application system, Submittable, to apply.

All application materials should be uploaded via Submittable. Both the undergraduate and faculty co-applicants must complete their respective portions of the application on Submittable.

View examples of both student and faculty application questions at a glance by downloading this pdf.

Student must

  • respond to student application questions
  • upload an electronic copy of their unofficial transcript

Faculty must

  • respond to faculty application questions
  • upload a description of the proposed research that is a maximum of three pages long
  • upload their curriculum vitae

Completed applications will be reviewed by a UC-wide committee. Award decisions will be emailed to applicants by April 1, 2022.