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