Purpose: The Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) brings together organizations with interests in advancing the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior. The purpose of the FABBS Undergraduate Research Excellence Awards is to acknowledge and honor undergraduate student investigators who have conducted research of superior scientific quality and with broad societal impact.
The Undergraduate Research Excellence Awards will be awarded in each academic year. Award winners will receive an honorary certificate from FABBS, and their research will be featured on the FABBS website. All FABBS member societies and affiliates will be informed of the award winners.
Nomination Eligibility: Undergraduate majors in behavioral and brain science whose home academic department is a current FABBS department affiliate are eligible. Each FABBS affiliate department is encouraged to identify and nominate one junior or senior undergraduate major who is conducting independent or capstone research of superior scientific quality and broader impact.
The award is open to both those currently enrolled and those who have graduated in the year prior to the award submission deadline.
How to Apply: To be considered, the following information should be submitted to info@fabbs.org with subject line “FABBS Call for Nominations – Undergraduate Research Awards”:
- Project title and 200 word abstract.
- Nomination letter: The nomination letter should describe and evaluate the significance of the research being nominated, and offer an evaluation of the candidate whose work is being nominated for the award. There should be a statement in the letter verifying institutional review board approval, if applicable. Nomination letters should come from the department chair or from the chair of the department’s awards committee.
- Project Summary: This should include an Introduction/Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, and an Impact Statement. The latter should describe the potential societal impact(s) of the research. Along with scientific quality, societal impact will be considered in the evaluation of all nominees. The Impact Statement should be brief (3-4 sentences in length) and should convey the (potential) relevance of the research for policy decisions (e.g., implications of the research for social and policy issues, and/or efforts to communicate the science to non-academic constituencies). Each of these sections is limited to no more than 500 words.
Please include an e-mail address for the nominee and other departmental contacts. Either PDF or Word files are acceptable, though Word is preferred for the Project Summary. Nominations will be reviewed by a committee comprised of FABBS Board members and representatives from a FABBS member society. Nominees and nominating departments will be notified of award decisions by the end of spring 2024.
Deadline: April 1, 2024
