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Welcome to the wonderous world of grants! Many of us enter this space with mixed feelings of hope and anxiety. City Lab encourages you to be an active grant seeker and to view applying for grants as one of the ways you can have proactive ownership of your education and development. Applying for grants is one of the more important life-long skills you can acquire during your four years at DePauw, so get into the practice of making grant seeking a regular part of your academic work. Keep in mind that applying and securing grants can be a significant bonus to your post-DePauw career. Regardless of if you are an Urban Studies major or not, City Lab is here to help you develop these skills.
DePauw offers its students a wide-range of grant opportunities to support projects. The starting point for finding money is the Office of Academic Affairs. Click here for the list of opportunities they list. From this list students should be aware of the Howes Grant, which funds independent summer learning projects, and the Asher Fund, which funds a range student projects throughout the year.
Bikes in Copenhagen
The Hubbard Center also provides funding for individual projects through its Professional Development Grant. Urban Studies Alum, Grace Anne Oczon (2016), for example, secured funding to attend the UN Habitat's financial prepatory meeting for Habitat III in Mexico City during spring semester 2016. Click here to hear from Grace Anne about that opportunity.
Ciudad Juarez & El Paso at night.
Another great resource for funding is DePauw University's Kathryn F. Hubbard Center for Student Engagement. Click here for a list of nationally competitive grant opportunities.
Hong Kong at Night
Keep in mind that many departments and programs have their own sources of funding for student projects. Be sure to ask if yours has funding available to support your work.
Funding a project often requires mixing and matching several funding sources. You are allowed to merge several grants to fund a project. Sometimes a good strategy is to tell a potential funding source at DePauw that you have secured "x" per cent of the needed money and "x" dollars more would get you to the goal. Plus, the more people you talk to about your funding goals, the more recommendations and suggestions you will get. So, don't be shy about what you are trying to do.
Here are some useful items to keep in mind as you develop your grant skills.
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Always have a resume up to date and ready for distribution
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Keep a template statement of purpose that defines who you are as an academic
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Anticipate due dates well in advance, plan several semesters ahead
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Consult with the Hubbard Center for resumes, statement of purpose, & opportunities
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Ask people to read your draft statement of purpose
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Be intentional about leveraging summer and January term for these opportunities.
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Applying is a win/win situation: if you get the grant great! If not, you gain experience with applying, definging yourself, and having ownership of your educaiton.
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If you are a runner up for a grant award, be sure to list that on your resume.
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Be intentional about "paying it forward." How can you help those who come next in their search for funds? How can you pay it back to the DePauw community?
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And, be intentional about integrating these opportunities into your course of studies. You want to construct a coherent narrative about what defines you as an intellectual and member of the larger community.
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