As the Harrison Awards enter their fifth year, the Center for Undergraduate Excellence and the Faculty Senate announced yesterday the awards will now be open to first-year students.
Previously only second- and third-year students could apply for a Harrison Award, which funds an undergraduate research project during the summer or academic year after the awards are given.
"We think this is a great opportunity to help students as early as the first year to fit research into their curriculum," said Nicole Hurd, assistant dean and director of the Center for Undergraduate Excellence.
This year also is the first year that the Center for Undergraduate Excellence will oversee the application and awards process. Previously, the Faculty Senate, which introduced the awards at the University, had overseen the awards.
"A lot of times what the Faculty Senate does is get a program started and then passes it off to another group," Faculty Senate Chair Robert E. Davis said.
Hurd said the Center was happy to help students with all aspects of the awards process, from the application procedure to an undergraduate research symposium following the completion of the projects.
"The Center sees ourselves stewarding the entire Harrison process," Hurd said.
After students submit a short application, which must include a letter from a faculty sponsor, a committee consisting of six members from the Faculty Senate Research and Scholarship Committee and six University faculty members previously involved with the Harrison Awards will review the applications and select which research projects are to receive awards.
In past years, the committee has selected 40 winners each year from an average of about 100 applicants. Each winner receives up to $3,000 and their faculty sponsor receives $1,000. This year, applications are due in early February and the awards will be announced in mid-March.
Members of the Research and Scholarship Committee said students' knowledge of their field and ability to communicate that knowledge in their application, as well as the project's significance and feasibility, are factors in determining which projects to select.
Davis added that the committee tries to spread awards across different schools and majors.
"We are looking to show the breadth of research that's being done by undergraduates," he said.
Some past winners said their Harrison research project is connected to other research, often thesis work.
Leah Rosenberg, a third-year College student and a Harrison Award winner from last year, said she applied for an award because she already had been planning a research project for the upcoming summer.
"My thesis is going to have connections with the work that I did for my Harrison," Rosenberg said.
Hurd emphasized the beneficial role the awards have played during and after students' undergraduate education.
"We see that it's helping students in a lot of ways, whether it's applying to graduate school, law school or helping students in the job market," Hurd said. "It builds crucial skills that are useful after one's tenure at U.Va."
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