Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Distinction in Research and Creative Work
The Distinction in Research and Creative Works is a university award for select undergraduates, granted at commencement, which appears on the transcript and diploma. Students must apply within their department to be considered for the award and the application must be supported by a letter from a faculty member.
To be considered for this award in 2014 your application must be in the EEB Department by March 28, 2014
Target Percent of Students
Up to 30% of the EEB B.S. degree recipients may receive this award. The Undergraduate Committee recommends 10-20% as a target. This is more consistent with the percent of students who have received formal recognition for research in our department in the past. This target percent will be reviewed in 2 years. Also, this designation (Distinction in Research and Creative Work) will be required for a student to be a candidate for the Julian Huxley and Clark Read awards that currently recognize distinction in research in EEB.
Course Enrollment
Independent research will be considered when a student is enrolled in EBIO 403 and EBIO 404.
Advisor
Students can work for a faculty member or advisor within Rice University or outside Rice University (including national and international locations). At least one EEB faculty member will be required to certify work for the student. This matches the current policy for supervision of research for EBIO 403/404
Eligibility
All Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology candidates will be eligible. No minimum GPA will be required (if this can override the recommendations)
Who will Qualify
There are two situations in which a student will automatically qualify to receive the Distinction in Research and Creative Work:
- The student is first (or equal contribution second) author on a research manuscript, either published or accepted by peer-reviewed journal. Conference proceedings and review papers, even if peer reviewed, are not considered journal papers for this award.
- The student wins an undergraduate research award at a national, professional society conference (e.g., ESA, Evolution). Regional (e.g., CENTEX ecologists, SWAN) or campus-based conferences (e.g., RURS) are not considered national society conferences for this award.
A student may be considered if he/she meets the following criterion:
- The student contributes substantially to research efforts in one or more labs. Examples of these include:
- Co-authorship on a publication. The publication may be published, in press, in review, or in preparation. Publications may include a peer-reviewed journal paper, review paper, or other types.
- Co-authorship on a paper (conference proceedings, abstract) or poster that is presented at a technical meeting. Papers and posters at regional and national conferences will be considered. Submissions to Rice-only, on-campus events such as RURS are not considered eligible.
All candidates must be certified by one of their research mentors. The Undergraduate Committee will prepare a certification form that will gather information about contribution, independence in the lab, and ranking of the student relative to others this year and previous years. A letter of recommendation may accompany the certification.
Students must turn in applications for this award to the EBIO Undergraduate Awards Committee 6 weeks prior to the University deadline. Faculty Certification Forms are due 4 weeks prior to the University deadline. The EBIO Undergraduate Awards Committee will make the selection for the students based on these guidelines and other documented, published procedures that the Committee establishes. The Chair of the EBIO department will review and approve the selection.
For 2014 the deadlines are:
EEB Department March 28 and University May 12
2013
Stephanie Wu
Wenborui (Boris) Zhong