Tibor T. Polgar Undergraduate Fellowship

Overview

_NOTE: The Foundation is continuously evaluating all our programs to better understand and amplify the impacts we wish to achieve. Over the next year, we will be working with our partners at NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to examine the Polgar Fellowship Program to determine how best to meet the needs of students going forward. The program will be on hiatus in 2025 as we complete this assessment._
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About the Hudson River Foundation**

The Hudson River Foundation was established in 1981 under the terms of an agreement among environmental groups, government regulatory agencies, and utility companies. The Foundation's grants primarily support independent, objective research that will inform scientific understanding, management, and policy decisions about the River and its Estuary.

Tibor T. Polgar Undergraduate Fellowship

The Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship program is a student research program of the Hudson River Foundation (HRF) conducted in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Named in honor of Dr. Tibor T. Polgar, a major participant in the early planning and development of the Foundation, this program provides a summer grant ($5,500 for each fellowship) and research funds (up to $1,500) for up to eight undergraduate students to conduct research on the Hudson River, under the guidance of a faculty mentor (mentors to receive a $1,000 honorarium).

Objective

The objective of the program is to enhance opportunities for students to conduct scientific and public policy research with a specific focus on projects studying the Hudson River, its watershed, and the people who live there. A primary goal of the program is to introduce and expose students to the research process through a career-stage appropriate, summer research experience, guided by strong mentoring. The Foundation therefore encourages all interested students, including those with no prior research experience, to apply.

Application Requirements

Projects must be relevant to the Hudson River and Watershed but may approach those subjects from a variety of disciplines. Appropriate topics include: studies of the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the River; or examinations of the social, economic, public policy, and environmental justice issues related to the River and Watershed.

Projects must be designed to be completed no later than September 2024, allowing for submission of the final written report November 2024. Students will be expected to attend an orientation (late May), mid-term progress, and final reports meeting (mid/late August); they are also required to submit a final written report due November 2024, and should be prepared to accept revisions into the following spring.

The Role of the Mentor

Because of the training and educational aspects of this program, each potential fellow must be sponsored by a primary mentor. The mentor must be willing to commit sufficient time for supervision of the research, to review fellow’s draft and final reports, and to attend the orientation and final report meetings with their students. Mentors will receive a stipend of $1,000. We ask all prospective mentors to read a brief description of our goals for the Fellowship and a mentor’s responsibilities. We strongly encourage potential mentors to contact the Foundation prior to the student submitting an application.

_HRF is committed to serving the diverse communities of the Hudson River and to facilitating an ongoing and inclusive dialogue with scientists, managers, policy makers, other stakeholders, and the general public to address the environmental and societal challenges facing the community of the Hudson River and Watershed._

_We seek to enhance this work by supporting researchers and students, with the unique and varied backgrounds, circumstances, needs, and perspectives that reflect the diversity of our community._

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Polgar Fellowship will be open to undergraduate students only.
* Students beginning their junior or senior year in the Fall of 2024 are encouraged to apply.
* The Program encourages applications from:

* Undergraduate students, specifically prioritizing rising juniors and seniors, with exceptions made for students who show special promise after their freshman year;
* First generation science undergraduates and students from communities historically underrepresented in the environmental sciences.

* Applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate program through the fall of 2024 to qualify for this program.

* Sophomores attending 2-year colleges must be enrolled in an undergraduate program for the fall semester.

* No prior independent research experience is required.
* Students should have a sufficient background through classwork (lecture and laboratory-based) to work in conjunction with a research mentor.
* Candidates must be able to commit to the entire summer program and completion of the final report is due in early November.
* Candidates and mentors should be aware that final reports are carefully reviewed in multiple rounds that continue into early spring of the following year.