The Women's Studies Program at the University of Delaware offers undergraduate research awards designed to support research in women's studies and gender. Three different types of awards are available:

Semester Research Assistants Awards

Summer Research Awards

Service Learning Awards

Links to information about Eligibility, Procedures, Deadlines and Required Forms for:

The WOMS Semester Research Assistants Awards
The WOMS Summer Research Awards
The WOMS Service Learning Awards


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General Information about the Awards:

These awards are open to all University of Delaware students regardless of their major or minor. A background in Women's Studies coursework is required for the Service Learning Awards, but not for the Semester Research Assistants Awards or the Summer Research Awards.

The Semester Research Assistants Awards are intended for motivated students who would like to learn an academic discipline and experience the process of research by working with a faculty member on a research project. The Semester Research Assistants Awards are for one or two semesters and require a minimum of 70 hours of research by the award recipients.

Under the guidance of a faculty member, students will learn the "Craft of Research" (Wayne Booth et. al.) through introduction to the methodologies and research questions of an academic discipline. Students do not work on projects of their own and do not receive academic credit. Each student who receives an award will team up with a faculty member to assist with a research project. Through this work, the award recipients will learn valuable research skills (for example, collecting data, establishing research bibliographies, proofreading and editing, summarizing research literature) and also strengthen their writing and communication abilities. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature and institutional framework of research (publication venues, conferences, etc.), and of research in women's and gender studies, thus preparing them to pursue their own research projects.

Semester Research Assistants Awards are available in the amount of $600 per semester.

These awards are intended for highly qualified undergraduates who wish to work either on their own research projects under the guidance of a faculty member or on the research project of a faculty member. The Summer Research Awards are for one summer. Award recipients are expected to commit to 10 weeks of summer researach. Applicants should be at least rising sophomores. The research may be part of the degree with distinction or Honors Degree with Distinction.

Summer Research Awards are available in the amount of $3,000 for the summer.

The Service Learning Awards offer paid summer internships in community agencies connected to women's and/or gender issues. Students will have many choices, either locally or in other locations, such as NOW, Amnesty International, YWCA, Emmaus House, Planned Parenthood, or the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, for example. Students are expected to work for a ten-week period in the agency whre they are placed and for a minimum of 20 hours each week. Decisions about where to seek a placement are developed with Jessica Schiffman in the Women's Studies office. Applicants should be at least rising sophomores.

Students will follow up their service learning project with a brief written report that will be submitted to Jessica Schiffman, Assistant Director, Women's Studies, by the last day of August in the summer for which the award was given. Students who receive the award will also give a presentation at the Geis Student Research on Women Conference the following spring or at another Women's Studies sponsored event during the academic year following the summer award.

Service Learning Awards are available in the amount of $3,000 for the summer.