Undergraduate Research Grant

About

The AAR Undergraduate Research Grant program is designed to allow AAR members to support an undergraduate student conducting research on religion. The grant provides support to a student who is working on a project supervised by a faculty member who is already a member of AAR and is able to submit the application on behalf of the student.  

Eligible grant expenses include books or research materials unavailable at the student’s university library, travel and lodging costs, and registration fees to attend an AAR regional and/or Annual Meeting. The grant does not support stipends, tuition costs, or other university fees.

The AAR’s  Executive Committee will review applications and select the grant recipient. 

Notification about the application status will typically be sent by early Spring. View a list of past winners

Criteria

  • Current enrollment as an undergraduate student is required for the grant applicant
  • Grant applicants must apply through a supervising faculty member 
  • Grant applicant projects must be supervised by the faculty member who submits the application
  • Current AAR membership is required for the supervising faculty member 

How to Apply

To be eligible for consideration, grant applicants and supervising faculty members must meet the eligibility criteria.

The undergraduate student writes the Letter of Application (see below), and the supervising faculty member completes the application form and provides additional requested information (see below) and submits the required materials by the deadline via the AAR Grant Application Submission system.

Late, emailed, or incomplete applications and/or materials cannot be accepted.

Application Materials

The undergraduate student materials in PDF or Word format as outlined below must be submitted by the supervising faculty member:

  • Cover page
    • Grant applicant’s name and email address
    • Name of grant applicant’s institution and year of study
    • Title of research project
    • Supervising faculty member’s name and email address
  • Letter of Application (to be written by undergraduate student)
    • A letter of application (no more than 2 pages) that describes the research project and the anticipated outcomes
  • Supervisor Support Statements (1 page)
    • A brief contextualization of the proposed research project, including a clear statement how the research project will improve the student’s research skills.
  • Project Budget
    • A one-page project budget that includes a description of the expected costs related to the research project, and an itemized list of the expenses, that includes the type of expense (e.g., airfare, lodging, library fees), date, cost, and total amount.

Late, emailed, or incomplete applications and/or materials cannot be accepted.

Submit an Application

To submit an application, click the button below which will take you to our online grant application submission system accessible only to AAR members. 
 
SUBMIT HERE

Winner Notification and Expectations

  • During the grant award year, the grant recipient must be enrolled as an undergraduate student for at least 4 months during academic term or the equivalent of one semester/2 quarters.
  • For awarded projects, the supervising faculty member must maintain current AAR membership throughout the grant period.
  • Grant funds will be made payable to the individual student recipient in the form of an electronic funds transfer. The AAR will issue the recipient a Form 1099 in the amount of the grant for income tax use.
  • Funds awarded must be expended by December 31 in the year the grant is received.
  • The grant recipient must submit a written report about their research by no later than January 31 of the year following grant receipt.
  • The grant recipient’s supervising faculty member must submit their report/comments about the project and research outcomes no later than January 31 of the year following grant receipt.

Questions

Questions may be sent to [email protected].

Deadline

November 1, 2023 | 6 PM ET

Grant Amount

$5,000 USD and one-year AAR student membership

Status

Closed