Undergraduate programs

The Beckman Institute Undergraduate Fellows Program offers up to five promising University of Illinois undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research at the Beckman Institute during the summer with a $3,000 award. Begun in 2016, the program is supported by funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. View fellowship recipients.

The Erik Haferkamp Memorial Award for Undergraduate Research allows a promising undergraduate neuroscientist to pursue research at the Beckman Institute during the summer. The $3,000 award is supported by friends and family in memory of Erik Haferkamp. View award recipients.

The Carle Neuroscience Institute Undergraduate Research Award offers collaborative summer research projects in magnetic resonance neuroimaging. Research will take place at the Beckman Institute and the Carle Neuroscience Institute. View award recipients.

Graduate programs

The Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellows Program is intended for female graduate students in engineering who conduct research in the general field of medical imaging. Preference is given to students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. View fellowship recipients.

The Thomas and Margaret Huang Award for Graduate Research  supports one to two graduate students per year in the broad area of human-computer intelligent interaction, including research in computer vision, image compression and processing, pattern recognition, multimodal signal processing, human perception and performance, and artificial intelligence at the Beckman Institute. The $3,500 award is supported by the Huang Fund. View award recipients.

For each of these programs, a disbursement will be made to each successful applicant’s university account at the end of the spring semester. The intended purpose of the award is to pay for housing and/or other living expenses so that the selected students can remain on campus during the summer to conduct research in Beckman Institute laboratories.

Program requirements

Applicants are expected to be engaged full-time in their research project at the Beckman Institute (or the Carle Neuroscience Institute, as appropriate) over the summer.

A progress report, not to exceed one page in length, must be submitted at the midpoint of the summer and a final report, not to exceed two pages in length, must be submitted at the end of the summer. We also expect recipients to participate in an end-of-summer poster session and will help you write a thank-you letter to your award or fellowship's donors.

Eligibility requirements

1. Recipient shall be an undergraduate student or graduate student in good standing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
2. Recipient must be enrolled for the spring semester of the application year.
3. Recipients who receive another campus unit's award or fellowship for the same summer term are not eligible for the Beckman awards and fellows programs. The applicant must withdraw from the Beckman programs competition upon notification of the other unit's award or fellowship.
4. Recipient must have already been working in a laboratory at the Beckman Institute for at least one semester prior to the summer of the application year.
5. All the application materials (CV, transcript, proposal, and letter of support) must be submitted as PDFs by the application closing deadline.
6. For the Erik Haferkamp Memorial Award for Undergraduate Research, recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
7. For the Thomas and Margaret Huang Award for Graduate Research, the student must be enrolled in a degree program (M.A., M.S., or Ph.D.) and have a Beckman research adviser whose research area is human-computer intelligent interaction.
8. For the Carle Neuroscience Award, recipients will assist with data collection and analysis (including, but not limited to, image and cognitive data collection and analysis) as part of ongoing neuro-imaging collaborations between the Carle Neuroscience Institute and the Beckman Institute’s Biomedical Imaging Center.) 

Application steps

1. Fill out application form 
   Applicants must fill out the online application form (campus NetID and password are required). The form also allows for the electronic submission of your supporting documents: (curriculum vitae and research plan/personal statement).
2. Curriculum vitae
   A current curriculum vitae must be submitted as a PDF using the upload form mentioned above.
3. Research plan/personal statement
   A description of the proposed research project is required. This section should not exceed three single spaced pages, excluding references. The research plan must be submitted as a PDF using the upload form mentioned above. A statement must be included in either the letter from the faculty member or the research proposal that indicates the specific role that the student will play in the research. The successful proposal will be understandable to a broad audience. For the Carle Neuroscience Award, the personal statement should include a summary of the applicant's interest and experience in conducting magnetic resonance or other imaging research. The statement should also include information about relevant coursework and career goals.
4. Letter from a Beckman faculty member
   The application must also include a letter from a full- or part-time Beckman Institute faculty member indicating his or her willingness to sponsor the student for the summer at the Beckman Institute. The faculty member must submit the letter as a PDF via e-mail to awards@beckman.illinois.edu. A statement must be included in either the letter from the faculty member or the research proposal that indicates the role the student has played in previous research projects led by the faculty member and the specific role that the student will play in the future research.
   For the Carle Neuroscience Award,  the letter may come from a Carle Neuroscience Institute faculty member.
   For the Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship, applicants should request letters of reference from two individuals familiar with your research. Please have your references e-mail letters directly to awards@beckman.illinois.edu.
5. Transcript
   Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.

Questions?

Visit the sponsored fellowships and awards FAQ.

Read about previous fellowship and award winners