Grants and Writing Resources for Chapman University

Calliope, Chapman's student literary journal, earned a Superior rating, the second-highest rank, in the National Council of Teachers of English's REALM Awards for its spring 2025 issue. A member of the class of 2025 edited it. Research papers get their own prize on campus, and in 2025 three students took the top three places in the Leatherby Libraries' Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize.

Presenting Research

Each fall and spring, undergraduates from any discipline present at the Student Scholar Symposium, run by the Center for Undergraduate Excellence (CUE). Posters and talks make up most of the program, and artists can pair a visual piece with a talk on their creative process or perform in the performing arts sessions. Group projects submit one abstract. Presenters' posters are later posted to Chapman's Digital Commons, and abstract volumes go back to fall 2014.

Research Funding

CUE's Undergraduate Scholarly/Creative Grants usually run up to $1,000 and can pay for materials, equipment, participant payments or research travel such as archival work. No prior research experience is needed. Applicants do need a full-time faculty mentor, and recipients present at the symposium in the year they spend the money. The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) pays students $4,200 for eight weeks of full-time research, with optional free campus housing and a $1,000 stipend for the faculty mentor.

Undergraduates accepted to present off campus can apply for a CUE Undergraduate Travel Grant of up to $250 toward conference costs other than food. Wilkinson College adds Student Undergraduate Travel Grants of up to $500 for its majors and minors, and one Submittable application covers the campus travel funds. Italy is its own category. The Ferrucci Institute's Student Travel Grant gives up to $500 to undergraduate or graduate students presenting Italy-focused research or creative work.

Prizes and Publishing

The Leatherby Libraries founded the Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize in 2008. It's open to undergraduates in every discipline and rewards strong research along with skilled use of library resources. Student editors run Calliope, the literary journal rated Superior in the REALM Awards for its spring 2025 issue.

Theses and dissertations go through a library formatting and accessibility review, then upload to Chapman University Digital Commons and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global; MFA students skip ProQuest. The library's thesis and dissertation guide links to formatting guidance and has a recorded submission workshop. The Dissertations and Theses collection on Digital Commons holds work from 15 programs.

Writing and Dissertation Support

The Writing Center serves undergraduate and graduate students in every program. Students can meet a consultant on Teams or walk in at Becket 114, and Document Review returns written feedback on a draft without a live session. Graduate Pulse Checks are one-hour meetings that help a student plan the finish of a thesis, capstone or dissertation.

Advanced Ph.D. students can be nominated for the Provost Dissertation Non-Tuition Fellowship, a one-semester stipend paid in four monthly installments. Program directors make the nominations. Candidates need an approved proposal and continuous full-time enrollment during the fellowship, and the Graduate Education office keeps a list of outside fellowships as well.

Our editors work with Chapman writers at the final-draft stage, from seminar papers to dissertations. See our Chapman University dissertation and thesis editing and Chapman University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.