Independent Research

While most PLAS students complete the program with a senior thesis related to Latin America and the Caribbean, some choose to fulfill this requirement through an independent research project. To assist these students, PLAS offers dedicated travel funding. As with our Senior Thesis Funding, these grants facilitate a richness of experience in student work.

Promoting Up-Close Experience

Many complete their independent research projects during the summer after junior year. However, seniors may plan research during winter break/intersession. By encouraging direct work in the country or countries being studied, the goal is to foster otherwise unavailable insights.

Application Details

Eligibility

  • Juniors and Seniors during different application cycles
  • Preference given to PLAS students

Parameters

  • Funding: Up to $3,000
  • Application cycles: Summer (Juniors apply through SAFE during the spring semester, early February through mid-March); Winter break/Intersession (Seniors apply through SAFE during the fall semester, late September through late November)
  • Funding covers: Air and ground travel (coach only), room and board, living expenses
  • Not covered: Equipment, materials, and other expenditures
  • Restrictions: PLAS will not fund travel to countries on the U.S. State Department travel-warning list, unless an exception is granted by the University

Application requirements

Students must apply in SAFE. The application includes: research proposal, transcript, budget, and recommendation. 

Students are required to list a recommender when applying to this opportunity. SAFE will automatically prompt the recommender to submit a letter.

IMPORTANT: Students should only have one active application per project. Whenever possible, students should apply for funding from multiple funders such as their home department and to the Office of Undergraduate Research via the same single application. Submitting multiple applications for the same project not only duplicates work for the advisers and department representatives evaluating the proposals, it can also jeopardize a student's funding eligibility. 

Students will be required to register their travel in the University Travel Enrollment System and to have Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval if the research involves human subjects.

Upon their return, students submit photos taken while carrying out their research in Latin America and a one- to two-page synthesis of their research results. Caption details to be included for each photo:

  • Project name if applicable
  • City, State, Country as applicable
  • Name of whom to receive photo credit

Awardees may be invited to present their results at a PLAS event.

Apply

Find complete application details via SAFE.

Seeking inspiration?
See recent senior thesis topics, from politics and physics to history.


Proposal Guidelines