Office of Research and Creative Activities

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Office ofResearch andCreative
Activities Mentoring Grants Workshop 2008-2009
Liz Guthrie 2006 ORCA Grant Recipient Working
in Berlin, Germany
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Presented by Professor Rob McFarlandDepartment
of Germanic and Slavic LanguagesAssociate
Director, Sophie Mentored Research ProjectORCA
Grant Mentor for MANY ProjectsORCA Grant
Proposal Evaluator,College of Humanities
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What is the Grant?

• 1500 awarded to students with outstanding
  mentored research project proposals, 300 to
  Mentors
• In the past 33-50 successful
• Spread evenly across disciplines
• Used for equipment, travel, wages, expenses
  incurred during research
• Should culminate in a publication or an academic
  presentation

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Undergraduate ResearchShifting the focus
of your whole education.
Marita Dimond 2002 ORCA Grant Recipient 2007
Graduating from 1 Graduate Program in her
Field Thanks in Part to her ORCA Research in
Vienna, Austria
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Old Model An education is something you
HAVE Listen, learn, take an exam. Goal
Show that you know it.
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New Model An education is something you
AREDevelop your skills, join ongoing
research projects, work beside a mentor.
Goal Active learning
Vance Johnson, 2006 ORCA Recipient Researching in
Munichs Antiquarium
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I am preaching to the choir.You want to
know How do I get one?
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Before we go on

• Do not be intimidated.
• Students younger and more clueless than you have
  gotten ORCA grants and completed great projects.
  I have mentored some of them.

Bright, excited, but absolutely no idea what they
were getting into.
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Know the Program

• Go to mentoring.byu.edu
• Read ALL of the instructions and limitations
  carefully
• Make sure you gear your project to the program
  instructions scope, topic, time frame, mentor,
  etc.
• Formally ask your Mentors for their help, request
  your letters in PLENTY of time
• Go through MANY drafts of the proposal
• with your mentor and others.

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Find a MentorMore important than your projectA
good Mentor! Offer your help and resources to
her/ his project. This is extra work for the
mentor, so make it worth the time.
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A Good Student Researcher

• Comes prepared with new, improved drafts of the
  proposal and application
• Works hard and is enthusiastic about the project,
  keeps regular contact with mentor
• Does lots of outside research on the topic
• Discusses the letter of recommendation with your
  mentor. Can they recommend you?
• Is respectful of her or his mentors time,
  privacy and own research agenda

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Planning the Project

• Brainstorm with advisor and alone
• Try several variations of your idea
• KEEP IT SIMPLE.your audience is made
• up of educated non-expertsI might read yours!
• MAKE IT SPECIFICvery focused and clear, Prepare
  a basic bibliography
• Choose a specific publication venue
• or conference for your finished project

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The Proposal

• Complete many drafts, craft it carefully
• Read it out loud, have others look at it
• Answer all of the questions exactly
• Avoid unnecessary repetition
• Show how your mentor will be involved
• Help your mentor to describe your interactions in
  positive terms

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What are the Evaluators looking for ?
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Pre-Screening by Mentor

• Mentor Willingness, Enthusiasm
• Applicant Initiative, Personal Effort
• Academic Preparation Coursework
• Past Grants New and Improved Project?

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The Big Three Criteria

• The project is unique, clearly stated,
  well-planned and worth the funding and effort
• The project contributes to established
  scholarship and the aims of BYU.
• This is the best person to do this project, and
  this mentor offers great resources.

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The On-Line Proposal Form

• You can save your information on it and retrieve
  it later to work on it.
• Do not submit it until you are done.
• Keep another copytoo many sad stories.

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Sections

• Student information
• 2. Preparation Courses, Grades
• 3. Mentor Information
• 4. Qualification How do you line up with Mentor
  and her/his interests/qualifications?
• New How well prepared are you to work with your
  mentor on this project?

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• 5. Proposal Questions
• Abstract (100 Word Summary)
• Research Problem, How your project addresses this
  problem, benefits
• 6. Enrollment
• 7. Previous Grants
• 8. Human/Animal Subjects, Biohazards, etc.
• 9. Stafford Loan
• 10. International Travel Through Kennedy Center

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Proposal Body

• Limit 2,000 Words
• Goal/Purpose, Importance of the Project, Main
  Proposal body
• Anticipated Academic Outcome
• Qualifications You and Your Mentor
• Timetable
• BYU Mission (optional) (!?!)
• Scholarly Sources

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OCTOBER 22

• You send it to your Mentor, S/he sends it on.
• OCTOBER 21 You should have it in early.
• Trust me.
• October 22-25 Gentle reminders to Mentor
• Cookies not necessary but usually not rejected.

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6 Tasks that you must address in the proposal
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Task 1 State the Problem

• What is lacking in the scholarship, and how will
  your project make up for this lack?
• Why is this problem relevant and important to
  BYU, other scholars, and to society in general?
• Why would donors feel that their money was well
  spent on solving this problem?

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Bad Example Problem For my ORCA project I am
going to show that Bolivians are angry about
recent government water policy
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How would you make it better?
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Good examples Problems

• According to the 2002 annual report of the
  Bechtel Corporation, the privatization of the
  water system in La Paz, Bolivia has been a great
  commercial success. However, Garcia and Perez
  (2004) have shown anecdotal evidence that there
  is widespread disappointment and concern about
  the 2002 privatization project. Up to now, no
  reliable statistics are available..

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Task 2 Show what your project will do to solve
the problem

• What are your specific objectives?
• Are they realistic and well defined?
• What will be different when you are done?
• Can you complete them in the time and scope of
  this project?
• How will the final outcome of this project make
  it into the larger scholarly discussion? How will
  you make a difference?

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Bad Examples Objectives

• I would like to show that the work of women
  composers has been neglected.

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Good Examples Objectives

• I will accompany Dr. Cindy Brewer as she collects
  data that will culminate in a scholarly
  co-authored article that quantifies and explains
  the gender gap that exists among musicians in
  four different conservatories in and around
  Zurich. I will submit my part of this paper and
  present it at the annual Student Conference of
  the BYU College of Humanities.

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Task Three Show your Methods

• Be very specific, right down to the weeks and
  days. What will you do first? How long will
  each step take?
• How will your mentor be involved?
• How will you investigate/quantify/collect/
• research/read/integrate/write about/
• represent/control for variables/reveal/
• illustrate/make accessible/organize?

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Bad Examples Methods

• First I will go to New Jersey to find out
  information about the polling system there.
• I will then review the results and write a paper
  to show the effect of re-districting.

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Good Examples Methods

• I will spend three weeks in August assisting
  Professor Angela Ivey in her statistical analysis
  of polling data from the state archives in
  Trenton, New Jersey
• Using the integrative approach suggested in Wyles
  and Geyser (2000), Professor Ivey and I will
  spend two months correlating voter turnout trends
  and controlling for mitigating circumstances such
  as the June 2003 Motor Voter legislation.

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Task 4 Why You?

• Memorize this phrase I am uniquely qualified
  to complete this project because
• List relevant coursework, languages, experience,
  etc.
• Connect yourself to your mentor, your mentors
  project, and how your mentor is uniquely
  qualified to accomplish the project. MORE
  IMPORTANT THIS YEAR THAN EVER.

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Task 5 Sources

• Ask your mentor to refer you to some of the key
  scholarly articles that have served to define and
  prepare your project.
• Show how your research will be informed by other
  scholarly works.
• How will your project influence the greater
  dialogue in scholarly circles?
• Who has used similar methods or looked at a
  similar problem? Were they successful?

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Hints for your Bibliography

• List several works that your mentor suggests that
  will get you up to speed on her or his research
  project.
• For creative projects, use model works, technical
  articles or reviews. Show your project will
  contribute to a larger discussion.
• Use serious, scholarly articles from respected
  sources, not random textbooks and websites. Make
  sure that you use the appropriate citation style
  for your discipline (MLA, APA, etc)

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Task 6 BYU Aims

• Why does this project merit funding from BYU?
• How is the project conducive of BYUs values,
  goals and mission?
• What will you do to make sure that this project
  is a model for mentored learning?
• If every student were to represent BYU the way
  that I will, then.

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Tips

• DO NOT TRUST TECHNOLOGY. Keep hard copies of
  everything, and make sure your mentor does, too.
  
• The website will save your application. See
  above comment.
• Get everything in early. Put in your application
  days early. Request your mentor letter weeks
  early (TODAY!!).
• The day the proposals are due will be a huge
  mess. See above comment.

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Last Tips

• Be nice to the ORCA office staff. They are
  working very hard to help you. It is not their
  fault that you did not keep a hard copy and that
  the system went down two hours before the
  deadline and your computer froze and your
  roommate had a weeping relationship crisis at
  300am and that your mentor has other things to
  do than to keep track of things for you.
• After you get the grant, DO finish the
  acceptance letter, the thank-you-note and the
  final report. And do finish your project.
  Please.

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Oh my HECK!!Why would anyone do this much work
in the middle of the semester?
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Ask Melanie Antuna, who went to Vienna, Austria
to work with her mentor in archives located in
a formerpalace.
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Ask Kelli Barbour, who is in her third year of
Medical School at UCSFafter her
interviewersasked her about her research about
an early woman reporter.
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Ask Mary Cox,who presented a paper at the 2005
Violence in Literature Conference in
Colorado and was just accepted to the London
School of Economics (They loved her ORCA
Project!)
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Last Thoughts
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Good Luck!!!! and Dont give upKEEP
TRYING!!!!