Dear Students,

Please consider applying a Summer 2009 undergraduate apprenticeship.  The 
deadline for the summer program is April 15, 2009.  Each semester and 
summer Mason is able to provide a $1,000 stipend to 16-18 high achieving 
undergraduates undertaking original research or creative projects with 
their Mason faculty mentors.  If you are interested, you must apply with a 
faculty mentor who has agreed to work with you closely.  That faculty 
member must also submit an application.  We encourage applications from 
all disciplines, colleges, and departments.  In addition to meeting and 
working closely with their faculty members, students will meet as a group 
three times (in June and July) to discuss professional development issues, 
including preparing for graduate school, graduate funding, designing a 
poster or other professional presentation, and writing abstracts.  We also 
fund students to attend several undergraduate research conferences or 
disciplinary conferences, including that of the Colonial Academic Alliance 
(CAA).

This program is designed to encourage Mason's high achieving students to 
become involved in research and creative projects early in their academic 
careers.  We especially encourage transfer students to apply, since many 
of them have excelled in the program in the past and might not yet be 
aware of this opportunity.  We are also offering a stipend to faculty who 
participate to assist them with equipment, material, or related costs 
associated with this program (first preference will be given to junior 
faculty).

The minimum GPA is 3.0, but please note that the average gpa of an 
apprentice is significantly higher.  There are more details on the program 
on the UAP website, including profiles of students and their projects: 
http://uap.gmu.edu

Here is the link to the faculty and student portions of the application 
and related materials: http://uap.gmu.edu/application.html

On the site, you will see that there is also a sample student application 
and a mentor's letter that you might find helpful as you work on your 
application.   For those of you who have other summer plans, we anticipate 
that the deadline for Fall 2009 apprentice applications will be around 
August 15th.

For more information, please contact:

Deirdre Moloney, Ph.D.
Director, Fellowships and Undergraduate Apprenticeship Program
Johnson Center 245 MS 2C4
George Mason University
Fairfax VA 22032
(703) 993-2917