The Psychology Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research requests nominations for a Mid-Career Mentoring Award. This award is for a CUR Psychology Division member who has influenced undergraduate research through their own research, through scholarly or creative projects with undergraduates, and/or through demonstrated leadership activities. The award consists of $500. In addition, the awardee will have the opportunity to present their research mentorship style and philosophy with the CUR community and the profile and accomplishments of the awardee will be featured on the Psychology Division’s website. Check out the previous winners here.
Awardees play a major role in advancing undergraduate research by promoting discipline-specific activities that may include the following:
- demonstrating a strong track record of scholarly and/or creative projects involving undergraduates
- providing mentorship to undergraduate researchers or scholars who have produced significant work in psychology
- securing support for their work and for their students
- spearheading efforts to institutionalize undergraduate research on their campuses and across the nation.
In sum, award winners are leaders and role models for a broad range of faculty and students.
Recognizing that significant and meaningful scholarly/creative activities with undergraduate students can take many forms, the following criteria will be considered by the selection committee.
A successful candidate must demonstrate:
- sustained involvement with undergraduates in research activities
- mentoring undergraduates whose work leads to conference presentations and/or peer-reviewed publications
In addition, a strong candidate will also demonstrate some combination of the following:
- publications and presentations about undergraduate research activities
- innovative approaches to mentoring undergraduates
- extramural support for research activities through grants, contracts, commissions, or fund-raising
- admission of students to postgraduate and professional programs
- postgraduate honors and recognition resulting from a student’s undergraduate research experience
- engagement of varied student populations and backgrounds in undergraduate research activities
- incorporation of research activities and experiences into courses, the overall curriculum, or the culture of undergraduate research on a campus
- advocacy of undergraduate research on the home campus and beyond.
Eligibility
Any member of CUR may nominate any active CUR Psychology Division member for the award. Self-nominations are also accepted. Nomination materials should elaborate on the perspectives, innovation, and value-added to undergraduate research.
Deadline
The deadline for applications was October 16, 2023.
Application Process
A complete application consists of the following:
- Name and Email of Nominee
- Name and Email of Nominator (if different from nominee)
- A single PDF including the following:
- A two-page nomination letter highlighting the nominee’s contributions to all areas of undergraduate research. (This can be a self-nomination or a nomination by a colleague.)
- If the candidate is self-nominated, include one letter of support from a colleague.
- Two one-page letters of support from students.
- A full CV with undergraduate research student co-authors clearly marked.
All CUR Award recipients are responsible for any and all applicable tax obligations associated with receipt of the award.
All students, faculty, mentors, organizations, and institutions honored with becoming a part of the CUR award recipient community, you have the professional and ethical responsibility to maintain the highest professional conduct standards and embody the CUR Code of Ethics for Undergraduate Research in your words, actions, and deeds. In addition, all participants are expected to abide by the CUR Code of Conduct. Expectations for awardees are to show courtesy and civility in both their personal and professional communications while forever representing CUR and the distinguished honor of the specific award rewarded. One must conduct oneself in a manner both professional and ethical.
Questions
Questions may be addressed to any member of the Mid-Career Mentoring Awards Committee:
Joanne Altman
Sarah K. Johnson
Marcus Leppanen
Nestor Matthews
Previous Winners
Dr. Jen Coane
Colby College in Waterville, Maine
Dr. Nicole Campione-Barr
University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri
Dr. Nicole Campione-Barr University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Nicole received her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Rochester. Her research examines how family relationships during adolescence impact adolescent development and adjustment. She has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles with undergraduate student co-authors and has mentored multiple students whose posters earned special recognition at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. She currently serves as the Director of Undergraduate Research and the Honors Capstone Program at the University of Missouri.
Dr. April Bleske-Rechek
University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
April received her Ph.D. at the University of Texas, Austin, focusing on individual differences, evolutionary psychology, and quantitative methods. At the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, she leads the Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology lab. She has mentored more than 100 student scholars and infuses research skills in all her courses. April earned the 2017 University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Excellence in Mentoring in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award, and contributed to forming the Wisconsin Council on Undergraduate Research (WisCUR).
Dr. Anthony Hermann
Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
Tony received his Ph.D. in social psychology from The Ohio State University. He directs the Self and Social Behavior Lab at Bradley, where they examine how self-evaluative processes impact social behavior and how behavior impacts self-evaluation. He has presented and published numerous articles with undergraduates and has produced on-line materials for students conducting research. He currently serves as the director of the Psychology Department honors program at Bradley and is the lead editor for the Handbook of Trait Narcissism: Key Advances, Research Methods, and Controversies from Springer.
Dr. Teresa Dzieweczynski
University of New England in Biddeford, Maine
Teresa received her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology with area certificates in animal behavior and experimental psychology from Indiana University. Her research examines how pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and other pollutants that might enter the environment through man made means negatively affect the behavior of the fish living in these polluted waters. She has presented and published numerous articles with undergraduates and currently serves as the Coordinator of Undergraduate Research at the University of New England.
Dr. Brian Detweiler-Bedell
Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon
Brian received his Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University. His research examines the influence of emotion on social judgment and decision-making. Together with his wife, Brian co-directs the Behavioral Health and Social Psychology laboratory, which provides an immersive research experience to over a dozen undergraduate student collaborators each year. In 2008 the Detweiler-Bedells were awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for their project titled, “Using Laddered Teams to Promote a Research Supportive Curriculum.”