Student Summer Research Grants

The Catholic Studies Program (CSP) is offering summer research grant opportunities for undergraduate students of Loyola University Maryland. Each summer research grant is made in the amount of $4,000 for the student, with a stipend of $1,000 awarded to the faculty mentor for the research project. The summer research grant subsidizes a student's scholarly research, writing, or artistic production that gives expression to the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition or its artistic heritage.

Recipients of the award are expected to submit a final research paper of at least twenty pages double spaced, or, if the proposal is of an artistic nature, the equivalent, which will be decided in consultation with the Catholic Studies Director.  The recipient is also expected to give an oral presentation of their findings (or the equivalent in the case of an artistic project) in the Fall Semester following its completion.

Any undergraduate student currently enrolled at Loyola University Maryland who is a member of the Class of 2025, 2026 or 2027 is eligible to apply. The CSP hopes to award up to two summer research grants. Students who receive CSP summer research grants will present the results of their research at a public lecture during the subsequent academic year.

Please note that applicants are not eligible for this grant if they are currently receiving (or intend to receive) any other funding for the same research project.

Application Requirements

The Catholic Studies Summer Research Grant application requires the following:

• an application cover page (Word document)
• a typed research proposal of 750 -1000 words that details the nature of the study, its purpose, and its relations to the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition or artistic heritage
• a bibliography of pertinent works or resources studies and those to be examined in scholarly research for the project; and
• a letter of endorsement not to exceed 500 words from the faculty mentor that addresses the project's merit, the competence of the students to conduct the project, and the project's relation to the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition or its artistic heritage. This letter should be sent by the faculty mentor directly to Claire Mathews McGinnis (CMathews@loyola.edu – note the one "t").

Application Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday, March 18, 2024

Each applicant must select a faculty mentor for the summer research project and submit a PDF file containing items 1 -3 of the application materials listed above via email to Claire Mathews McGinnis (CMathews@loyola.edu – note the one "t") the director of the Catholic Studies Program by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 18, 2024. The fourth item, the faculty endorsement letter, should not be included in this PDF but must be submitted to CMathews@loyola.edu by the faculty member directly via email.

Questions about the grant may be directed to CMathews@loyola.edu