Paul E. Sigmund Scholars Award

Princeton students walk in the footsteps of some of the leading minds in Latin American studies. Among them is Emeritus Professor of Politics Paul E. Sigmund, a former PLAS director and namesake of this annual award.

Funding Innovative Projects in Latin America

The Paul E. Sigmund Scholars Award is primarily for first- and second-year undergraduate students who wish to pursue a 4 to 10-week long field project or scientific research in Latin America or the Caribbean during the summer. Flexible by design, it affords an opportunity to bring the region into focus—whether through exploratory research, non-profit work, travel, or other activities. Ultimately, this can serve as a powerful foundation for future academic work, including the junior paper and senior thesis.

Application Details

Eligibility

  • Full-time, first- and second-year students
  • Preference given to PLAS students with at least one LAS or LAS cross listed course completed
  • Basic proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, or French (fulfillment of the language requirement) or a justification of how the student will manage to do the research in English
  • Special notes: Students may apply for the award up to twice during their time at Princeton. 

Parameters

  • Funding: Up to $5,000
  • Application cycles: Summer; application period early February through mid-March
  • Awards given: Up to five
  • Funding covers: Air and ground travel (coach only), room and board, living expenses
  • Not covered: Equipment, materials, and other expenditures

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.

Honoring Emeritus Professor of Politics Paul E. Sigmund (1929-2014)

Paul E. Sigmund

Professor Sigmund joined Princeton University’s Politics Department in 1963, where he taught political theory and Latin American politics. He also served as PLAS Director. His research took him frequently to Latin America, particularly to Chile. Professor Sigmund edited five volumes, wrote seven books, translated and edited two classical texts on political thought, and received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Fulbright.

Apply

Find complete application details via SAFE.


Proposal Guidelines