2024-25 call for applications

The Kathryn D. Sullivan Award in Earth & Marine Sciences is designed to encourage undergraduate student research for those pursuing research related to Earth and marine sciences from a variety of perspectives (including biological, physical, and chemical)

Amount & use
Award amount: $4,500

How the award may be used: Award funds should be used to gain real-world experience that builds scientific knowledge while shaping a broad understanding of environmental stewardship and policy issues. Among the ways the award recipients can use the funds are to participate in laboratory or field research or to attend conferences or engage in other professional development activities.

Eligibility & Requirements
  • Any undergraduate with a major in the Science Division who is registered and enrolled at UC Santa Cruz, in good academic standing, and will not graduate before the project is completed can apply
  • You must propose a research project relating to Earth and marine sciences
  • You must have a faculty mentor for your research project

This award is one of several science division summer research awards. You can view each of these research awards and their various eligibility criteria here.

If you have questions, please contact the awards manager at sciawards@ucsc.edu.

Please find complete application instructions below.

**All award recipients will be required to provide a handwritten or typed thank-you note and complete a questionnaire for donor stewardship purposes and may be asked to participate in other recognition events. If for any reason you would be unable to participate in the recognition activities outlined above, we will work with you on an alternative.

Deadlines
The 2023-2024 awards cycle has ended. Applications for AY 24/25 will be posted in early January, and the application deadline will be set in early spring 2025.

Selection criteria
  • Strength of research proposal (e.g., quality of writing, feasibility of project)
  • Strength of faculty recommendation
  • Student qualifications (e.g., prior experience, relevant coursework)
  • Preference given to upper division (rising junior or senior) students who have declared a major

Selection process: The Physical and Biological Sciences Undergraduate Award Committee, composed of faculty in the Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, will review the application materials, rank each proposal, and select the award recipient.

Past recipients

2021–2022

Noah Brigham (Earth & Planetary Sciences)

2020–2021

Luis Bautista (Physics)

2019–2020

Samuel Rapp (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)

2018–2019

Paul Colosi (Earth Science)

2017–2018

Draven Hawk (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)

How to apply
The research awards application will be posted in early January, 2025 Until then, please review the information under “selection criteria” and begin connecting with faculty labs that could oversee your research project.