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J. William Asher and Melanie J. Norton Endowed Fund in the Sciences

J. William Asher and Melanie J. Norton Endowed Fund in the Sciences

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Deadline for Fall: October 2, 2024 @ 6 PM ET / Deadline for Spring: February 26, 2025 @ 6 PM ET

Purpose: J. William Asher is a DePauw alumnus and Professor Emeritus of Education and Psychological Sciences at Purdue University.  Highly committed to undergraduate research at DePauw, Dr. Asher has generously established the J. William Asher and Melanie J. Norton Endowed Fund in the Sciences.  This Fund supports research and scholarly efforts in but not limited to the current areas of biology, chemistry and biochemistry, geosciences, physics and astronomy, mathematics and computer science, as well as other sciences not included within the scope of the Asher Social Sciences and Asher Humanities Funds. 

Eligibility: Activities that support faculty and students, working independently or together, are eligible for award.

These activities might include but are not limited to:

  • travel to collect data;

  • travel to conference, conventions, and workshops to report research results;

  • student and faculty salaries and wages to enable research, data collection, and writing reports or publications;

  • teaching replacement for load reduction for faculty members pursuing scholarly activities (please check below for specific information about course reassigned time);

  • assistance for longer sabbaticals;

  • equipment purchase;

  • support for student, secretarial, and clerical help;

  • support for a visiting scholar.

Funding must be awarded for projects before expenses are incurred, and there will be no retroactive funding. Among strong proposals, preference is given to projects that advance students’ understanding of and experiences with the undertaking of research activities.  

Eligibility for teaching load reduction for faculty: All tenure-track or tenured members of the faculty are eligible to apply each year, but they may receive only one course reassigned time in a given academic year and one award every two years. Term faculty members must have completed a successful third-year review.  Faculty members are not eligible for teaching load reduction during the same academic year as a sabbatical, pre-tenure leave, or any other award that has reassigned time. Awards for reassigned time for a scholarly project are contingent on departmental staffing needs and approval from the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Student Applicants:

Eligibility:  Students must be in good academic standing and have no incomplete grades in regular semester courses to be eligible for funding. Seniors will not be funded for activities held after they graduate.

Sponsor Endorsement: Your faculty sponsor must complete an endorsement attesting to their assessment of your project’s feasibility and merit, your preparedness to undertake the project successfully, and their contributions to your project’s success.