2009 WELLNESS SCHOLAR CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Overview
To encourage and support
undergraduate research on health promotion, the North Carolina Center for Health
and Wellness will be awarding one-year grant awards to students conducting
independent projects on health-oriented topics. We are especially interested in
applied research or program evaluation focused on obesity prevention, employee
wellness, or healthy aging in seniors. However, we welcome applications for
projects in any area of health promotion (e.g., smoking cessation, exercise
motivation, health education, health marketing strategies, environmental health,
economics of disease prevention). Topics of Wellness Scholar Award recipients
in the previous two years are posted on line at
http://www.unca.edu/ncwell/pages/wellscholars08.htm and
http://www.unca.edu/ncwell/pages/wellscholars07.htm.
Eligibility
Wellness Scholar applicants should be
currently enrolled juniors or seniors at UNCA with an expected graduation date
no sooner than May, 2009. Students from any discipline are encouraged to apply,
but applicants must have a faculty advisor willing to oversee their project.
Applicants cannot simultaneously receive financial support for research from any
other campus program (e.g., the Wellness Starter Grant Program, the
Undergraduate Research Program).
Funds Available
Wellness Scholar recipients will receive a
research award of $1000. In addition, applicants can request funding for
equipment or supplies (up to $500) and travel to a regional or national
conference to present research findings (up to $400). The grant funding period
will begin as soon as decisions are made (no later than the start of the 2009
spring semester), and can extend through December, 2009.
Application
1. Cover page: (a) project title; (b) applicant name, address, phone,
email address, and expected date of graduation; and (c) faculty advisor name,
department, phone, and email address.
2. Project description
(maximum of 1000 words), including each of the following sections:
Overview of project (background and significance; if not obvious, please describe relevance to health promotion)
Specific goals or objectives
Research design and methods (description of participants, procedures or intervention, and measures or method of evaluation)
3. Budget. Provide a description and estimated cost of supplies for which you are requesting funding ($500 maximum). If applying for travel funds, give as much information as possible about the conference at which you anticipate presenting (e.g., date, place, likelihood of acceptance). Travel money ($400 maximum) can be used for hotel costs, conference fees, meals, and mileage or airfare.
4. Faculty advisor letter of support. Ask your research advisor to submit a statement (up to 350 words) describing your project as it relates to the evaluation criteria described below. Faculty should also comment on the time they expect to be able to contribute to supervising your project. Support letters should be mailed electronically, by the deadline, to himelein@unca.edu.
Submission
The deadline for proposal submission is Thursday, November 20th (5:00
p.m.). Please send your proposal electronically to Dr. Melissa Himelein (himelein@unca.edu).
Review Procedures
Proposals will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Research Program Advisory
Council (URPAC). Please be sure to write proposals so that they can be easily
understood by individuals in a variety of disciplines. The Committee will
notify applicants of their decisions prior to the end of the fall, 2008,
semester.
Proposals will be
evaluated according to the following criteria:
Contribution the proposed research makes to an important issue in health promotion or disease prevention
Feasibility of successful completion of the research project
Probability of the research resulting in a refereed presentation or publication
Completeness of the research proposal
Terms of Award
All Wellness Scholars are required to present a paper at UNCA’s Spring
(April 3, 2009) or Fall (November, 2009) Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Wellness Scholars are also encouraged to submit their work for presentation at a
regional or national conference, or to publish their writing in an appropriate
academic journal. Copies of your final presentation(s) or publication should be
submitted electronically to Dr. Himelein.
Equipment or travel money that is not used during the grant period will revert to UNC Asheville. In exceptional cases, extensions may be granted for travel funding to be used after the grant year has ended.
For More Information
Please feel free to contact Dr. Melissa Himelein (himelein@unca.edu),
Department of Psychology, with questions about any aspect of the Wellness
Scholars Program.