AMAC Mid-Atlantic

SPF In Brief

• A fund supporting independent undergraduate student research, scholarly, and outreach projects
• Awarding multiple grants of up to $500 per grant
• The Award may be expended on supplies, materials and travel directly related to the student's project
• Applications open to Croatian nationals studying at universities in the Republic of Croatia
• The online application form is here.
• Next application deadline is Friday, May 25th 2007.
  Successful applicants will be notified no later than Friday, June 22nd 2007.

Purpose

The AMAC MA Student Projects Fund (SPF) was established on January 14th, 2007., by AMAC Mid-Atlantic Association of Alumni and Friends of Croatian Universities, a non-profit corporation incorporated in New York, United States of America.

AMAC MA, through the Student Projects Fund, supports independent research, scholarly, and outreach projects undertaken by undergraduate students at Croatian universities. SPF awards support projects through which students acquire practical skills and knowledge important for their future careers, beyond the usual and customary curricular activities. The fund promotes the establishment of connections between the grantees (students in Croatia) and Croatian academics and business professionals in the United States.

A project proposed for an SPF grant must be the student’s own independent project. If course-connected, it normally must be in directed research, independent study, internship, or some such similar course, and not in fulfillment of regular course or seminar requirements.

Awards will not exceed $500 per project. The number of awards is limited only by available funds and the quality of the received applications. Projects with cost share (monetary or in-kind) from other sources are highly encouraged. The committee reserves the right to offer partial funding.

An SPF grant may be used to support the purchase of necessary equipment, supplies, computer time, or any other reasonable and justified expense incurred for the purpose of accomplishing the project goals. SPF grants are to be expended during the 6 month period following the granting of the award (exceptions may be made, with prior permission). SPF awards may not be used as compensation for participation in the project in any capacity.

All grantees will be required to submit to the SPF Award Committee a written report after the completion of the grant explaining how the funds were expended, a paper describing the results of his or her research, and a 150–200 word abstract of that paper. Should the Awards Committee deem needed, the applicant may be asked to create and maintain project web pages, keep a publicly available online record of project activities, and present the final project results on the web. This will be the case for projects with strong outreach components.

Eligibility

1. Projects lead and undertaken by undergraduate students, and enrolled in a Croatian university at the time of the awarding of the grant, are eligible.
2. Only students not supported by an AMAC MA SPF grant at the time of awarding are eligible.
3. For the project to be eligible, faculty, graduate students or other researches may only be involved in advisory roles or as providers of resources for the project (for example, supplying the equipment, expertise, access to potential project benefactors).
4. Projects already selected as the applicant's B.Sc. thesis topic are not eligible. However, projects that received an SPF grant may later evolve into B.Sc. thesis projects.

Application Process

All applications must be entered through the online application form. There are no exceptions to this rule.

For an application to be considered complete, we must receive:

1. The completed application form and all required attachments

The application form is available here and must be filled out online. Uploaded in the appropriate section of the application form must be a description (the "Project Proposal", no more than 1–2 pages long) of the proposed project and its time frame. The description should be written in a fashion understandable to laymen and specialists alike and should show evidence of the student’s knowledge of previous work in the field (i.e., short bibliography). It must address the broad significance of the project and the expected benefit of the research, and must emphasize the student’s role in the project. We also require an itemized budget showing the proposed project expenditures and other sources of funding (if any).

2. Two Letters of Recommendation

The Letters of Recommendation must be requested online, by following the instructions shown in the application form. At least one letter has to be from an university faculty familiar with the student's academic performance. The recommenders must fill out and submit the Letter of Recommendation forms online. All letters must be received by the Committee by the application deadline.

3. Transcripts (student enrollment and grades)

Unofficial transcripts issued to students, or their photocopies, are acceptable. They may be submitted by attaching the scans of the documents, in PDF format, to in the appropriate section of the application form, or by mailing the transcript by post.

If the grant is awarded, official transcripts and certificate of enrollment will be required at contract signing.

All materials (Letters of Recommendation included), except the transcripts, have to be written in English.

Recommendation letters and transcripts are confidential and will be made available only to the AMAC-MA SPF Awards Committee.

Deadlines

• The deadline for reception of complete applications (including the online application form, letters of recommendation and transcripts) is Friday, May 25th, 2007, 5pm EDT.
• The applicants will be notified of the Award Committee's decision by e-mail, no later than Friday, June 22nd 2007.

Conditions of Award Acceptance

If the application is successful, to accept the Award the applicant is required to agree to the following:

1. The applicant is required to sign a Statement of Agreement affirming their obligation to use the grant money in accordance with the purposes laid out in the project proposal and budget. Grants will be marked payable directly to the applicant.
2. In accepting a grant, the student gives AMAC Mid-Atlantic a non-exclusive permission to publish the project abstract and results in its publications, and to share project and applicant related information with the donor of the particular research grant.
3. The applicant is responsible for notifying the SPF Awards Committee of any changes in student status (enrollment, address, name, etc.) for the duration of the project.
4. The applicant is responsible for project accounting and required to promptly answer to inquiries from the SPF Awards Committee or the AMAC MA Treasurer.

Addresses

All correspondence and documents (that are not submitted online) should be addressed to:

In Croatia:

Dr. Dejan Vinković
Zavod za fiziku
Fakultet prirodoslovnih, matematičkih znanosti i kineziologije
Sveučiliste u Splitu
Nikole Tesle 12
21000 Split
Croatia

In the United States:

Dr. Mario Juric
BH-128, Institute for Advanced Study
1 Einstein Drive
Princeton, NJ 08540
United States of America

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