Grants & Prizes
Redekop Family Environmental Research Grants for Undergraduates
CEGU offers financial support for undergraduate research that engages with CEGU themes, including socio-environmental studies, urban environmental studies, energy histories and geographies, environmental humanities, and more. Grants can be used to cover field work related expenses including travel costs, lodging expenses, access to archival or digital materials, and other research-related expenses. Grants cannot be used to fund interview compensation for human subjects, tuition expenses, or research assistants.
University of Chicago undergraduate students across all disciplines can apply for funding up to $2,500 per person, with a minimum amount of $100. Priority will be granted to ENST/CEGU BA Thesis and Capstone research, and to those students who have not previously received funding from CEGU. In 2023–24, an information session and application link will be shared in Winter quarter for an application deadline in late April 2024. Starting in 2024–25, there will be two funding cycles in Autumn and Spring.
Charles M. Gray Research Fellowship for Undergraduates
Third-year students in the CEGU undergraduate program (ENST or CEGU majors) may apply for summer research support from the Charles M. Gray Research Fellowship fund, which is administered through a competitive application process by the Social Sciences Collegiate Division.
Gray Fellows are expected to pursue original, faculty-mentored research. The research could be tied to a BA Thesis or Capstone project, or be an independent, faculty-mentored project. Fellowship applicants should seek to answer a research question of their own design by supplementing the knowledge that they gain from secondary sources with their own analysis of primary sources. These primary sources might include, but are not limited to, historical or contemporary texts, government documents, court decisions, data sets, interviews, letters, speeches, films, and the contents of archival collections.
All applicants must secure a faculty supervisor for their summer research before the application deadline, and they are strongly encouraged to prepare their application in consultation with this supervisor. Applications must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, April 14, 2022. Fellowship recipients will be notified in early May.
Learn more and apply for the Charles M. Gray Research Fellowship 2022–23
CEGU Undergraduate Conference Travel Fund
CEGU offers funding awards for conference travel for which an ENST/CEGU student’s paper, poster, or other scholarly work has been accepted for presentation. ENST/CEGU majors and minors are eligible to apply for funding up to $1,000 per person. Students may only receive this funding for conference participation once during their College career. Note that graduating fourth-years whose conference is scheduled for the summer after graduation may NOT apply, as funds cannot be distributed once the student graduates. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and must be submitted one month before conference travel.
Apply for CEGU Undergraduate Conference Travel Funding↗ (Note: You must be signed into your UChicago Google account to access this form.)
CEGU Undergraduate BA Thesis and Capstone Prizes
CEGU will award BA Thesis and BA Capstone prizes beginning in 2022–23. Awards will be given to exceptional thesis and capstone projects conducted by a fourth-year student in the ENST/CEGU major. The decisions will be made in the Spring and announced at the BA Symposium on May 23, 2023. No application is necessary.
For grants and opportunities beyond CEGU’s own offerings, please see our Opportunities for Students page.