Professor Barry Godolphin Mini-Grant for Undergraduate Researchers

This mini-grant is generously supported by Debra H. Weiner, a SSU alum (class of 1977) who wanted to celebrate Professor Godolphin's development of students' research design and quantitative data analysis skills. Read more about Professor Godolphin here. 

Application Information

What: $200 to $750.00 per student working with a Psychology faculty mentor and engaging in empirical research. Awards can be used to cover travel costs to professional conferences, volunteer incentives, or as support for a short-term research assistantship with a faculty mentor conducting original research. The size of the award will be determined by the evaluation committee.

Who: Undergraduate SSU Psychology majors

When: Spring Semester 2024

Why: Support collaborative empirical psychology research projects with psychology department faculty members. The Godolphin mini-grant prioritizes funds for projects that emphasized or utilize quantitative reasoning and data analysis- skills that Professor Godolphin emphasized in his teaching.

How: Complete the online application form. The application requires:

• A project title
• Project Narrative, including objectives, significance, and plan of work (details below)
• Detailed budget, not to exceed a request of $750 per student. Submit a spreadsheet like the example provided below.
• Confirmation of proposal support from your faculty mentor.

In your application form, you will be asked to complete the following sections/prompts:

• What, precisely, do you hope to accomplish in your project with your faculty mentor? State the questions or hypotheses you will examine, making clear the scope of focus and the quantitative or qualitative nature of your goals. (50 words)
• Why are those research objectives important to the field that you and your professor are in? How does the proposed work with your faculty mentor build on or depart from other research? (50 words)
• Preparation: What specific steps have you and your professor taken to prepare for this project? For example, have you received IRB approval, finished data collection, conducted analyses, and/or applied for a conference presentation? (50-100 words)
• How will you use the funds to achieve your objectives? Provide a logistical plan, including your timeline and milestones for progress.

After you submit your application form via Qualtrics, your faculty advisor will be immediately notified and sent a copy of your submission. They will be asked to review and sign off on the project for it to be deemed as complete. Please let your advisor know in advance that they will be expecting this email for review and approval.

Deadline for application: April 7, 2024, 11:59pm

The primary purpose of this mini-grant is to fund projects that are completed outside regular coursework in which statistical analysis will be used to analyze the data. Qualitative research projects will be considered, but quantitative projects will be prioritized. First priority for funding will be given to students who plan to present faculty-student co-authored research at professional conferences off campus. In addition, students who have not received this award before, will be enrolled in SSU in future semesters/years, and who are co-authors on faculty projects will be prioritized.

For more information, please contact the Godolphin Committee Chair, Dr. Teresa Nguyen.

Terms and Conditions

• You must work under the guidance of a qualifying faculty mentor. Faculty must be in the Psychology Department and have their own active, scholarly agenda that is closely related to the project proposed.
• Projects must be pre-approved by the faculty advisor, and any changes to the proposed project must also be approved by the faculty advisor
• At the end of the award term, you are required to complete the following:
  • Compose a letter to thank the donor for your mini-grant, Debora Weiner. This thank you letter must be reviewed by the faculty sponsor before it is sent.
  • Submit the work that was described in your proposal. For example, if your proposal was to fund your presentation of a poster, you should submit a copy of the abstract and poster.
  • Complete a short assessment of your experience. Learning about your experience will help future students and faculty to improve the undergraduate major and how we use this mini-grant
• All expenditures must be made by Friday May 24, 2024. You are required to track the balance on your grant and submit a balance sheet with expenditures.
• The Godolphin committee reserves the right to rescind funding at any point should the project violate the terms and conditions of this fund or any other university policies. Funds for the project may be rescinded at any time in the event of unaddressed safety or ethics concerns or failure to meet the terms and conditions of the award.
• All travel is now handled through the Concur software and must be submitted by the faculty advisor of the research project. If your Godolphin Mini-Grant application is awarded and your proposal involves travel you will need to complete the following steps:
  • Before traveling: Have your faculty research mentor complete your Concur travel request. When traveling on University business, remember that you are responsible for understanding all SSU travel policies and guidelines. 
  • Upon returning: The travel reimbursement request must be made within 60 days of travel.

Example Budget