I’m sure everyone has got some great plans for this summer. Heck, I’m so excited that I’m already looking ahead to next summer. In the months to come, there will be plenty of relaxing and having fun. We will return to our hometown jobs at the supermarket or the burger joint and try and make some cash for next year. In addition to that a lot of crazy BSU students (myself included) will be mixing up their usual summer routines and working on some weird thing called an ATP grant.
What is the ATP Grant?
The office of Undergraduate Research on campus runs a lot of great programs that allow undergrads to do some really cool projects- like the ATP summer grant. Basically, you propose a research project or creative work to the office in the form of a proposal. They accept all kinds of projects from every discipline; scientific research, ehnographies, or even a collection of short stories (which is what I chose).
If your proposal is accepted, you work for a ten week period on your project and complete it in late August. It requires about 40 hours a week, so it’s intense, but well worth it. You will be required to work with a mentor, a professor or staff member from the field you want to study. So if you have a favorite professor, that comes in handy. And you know what happens at the end of the summer? Well you present your project at the undergrad symposium, you get a great line to put on your resume, (basically clinches grad school from what I’ve heard) and, oh yeah, they cut you a check for 4,000 dollars. That’s right 4,000 big ones for your all the work you put into your project, now all the benefits of the program are exciting but to broke college kids 4,000 dollars sounds like a fortune. How can you beat that?
What else can you do?
Now if your interested in doing some kind of project but don’t want to wait until next summer, don’t worry. The office of undergraduate research also offers semester grants for students. It’s the same basic idea as the ATP grant but it’s during a regular school semester. For more info on both these research opportunities and more you can visit the office located on the second floor of the library or you can check out their website.
Are you interested in these awesome grant programs? Have any questions about the process of applying? Want to make a cool $4K?
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