Grants and Writing Resources for Pacific University
In April the All In Campus Democracy Challenge named 168 students to its 2026 Student Voting Honor Roll, and one of them was a Pacific politics and government and philosophy double major who registers classmates to vote as a Pacific Votes ambassador. In August the university reported that the Northwest Conference had named a May 2026 environmental science graduate its 2026 Woman of the Year. She was a four-time conference Scholar-Athlete and the first Pacific student-athlete to win the award since it began in 2009.
Paid Summer Research
Pacific's Summer Research Program pays undergraduates in the natural and social sciences to work with a faculty mentor for 10 weeks, at least 35 hours a week. The undergraduate research office lists the stipend at $3,500, and summer researchers can live on campus at a discounted rate. Students attend a weekly lunchtime seminar and give a talk to peers at one of them. In the fall they bring a poster to the Pacific Undergraduate Research Conference.
In summer 2026, 29 undergraduates held paid research roles in fields that ran from chemistry and biology to music, journalism and history. One chemistry student wrote code to model metal-organic frameworks, materials studied for capturing carbon dioxide, and is turning that work into a senior capstone. Pacific also pays for student research through endowments such as the Kohler Endowment for Undergraduate Research and the Templeton Undergraduate Research Endowment.
The School of Pharmacy runs a separate summer undergraduate research program on the Hillsboro Campus, open to students from other institutions as well. Its paid positions, funded through ASPET SURF fellowships and NIH grants, last 10 weeks and pay $4,600.
Capstones and Student Publishing
Every Pacific undergraduate finishes a senior capstone project and presents it as a 20-minute talk or a poster. Presentations happen through the academic year. On Senior Projects Day, April 22 in 2026, classes are canceled so other students can come and listen.
The International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities is published through Pacific's CommonKnowledge repository. It is peer-reviewed and open access, and it publishes research articles alongside fiction, poetry, photography and video by undergraduates in any discipline. Student reporters write for The Pacific Index, the student newspaper since 1892.
Competitions and Program Scholarships
The Berglund Center's Inspired Ideas Competition is open to students of any major and level, graduate students included. Entrants pitch an idea to a panel of judges and the public, and entries are scored on innovation and creativity. Winners receive scholarships, along with professional and technical help to build a prototype over an academic year.
Applicants to the MFA in Writing are considered for program scholarships on the strength of their creative manuscript. The Marvin Bell Endowed Scholarship goes to promising poets. The Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Scholarship covers part of tuition, and its holders can later apply for a teaching assistantship.
Optometry students can enter the ASCO Student Award in Clinical Studies, an essay competition sponsored by Alcon with a $1,000 prize and a plaque. Each school may submit one essay.
Graduate Research Funding
In the School of Graduate Psychology, the Michel and Vicki Hersen Student Research Fund pays for student research projects. A former dean and his wife set it up. The school's Silvia Genel Fund supports student activities that benefit the Latino community.
Science graduates who want to teach can apply for the Pacific Noyce Teaching Fellowship, funded by the National Science Foundation. It is worth $100,000 over five years. Fellows get a scholarship of $33,000 to $65,000 for the one-year Master of Arts in Teaching, then $15,000 a year during a four-year leadership program that includes a paid summer research experience.
Writing Tutors and Thesis Deposit
Peer tutoring at the Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS), run by Pacific University Libraries, is free and available in person or online. Writing tutors take any writing assignment for any class. They help students understand an assignment, generate ideas, check organization and flow, and find and evaluate sources. Graduate and professional students get the same writing help at any stage, and Physician Associate students can book writing appointments for their capstone course.
Finished theses, dissertations and capstones go into CommonKnowledge, the university repository. The library's deposit guidelines call for a PDF with 10- to 12-point body text, 1.5 or double line spacing, and the university's standard title, copyright and signature pages, whatever style manual the school uses. PhD candidates submit a signed Final Dissertation Defense Form in place of a signature page. Dissertations in education and leadership are collected under Education & Leadership - Dissertations.
Before a thesis, dissertation or capstone goes into CommonKnowledge, our editors can give it a final edit for grammar, consistency and format. See our Pacific University dissertation and thesis editing and Pacific University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with Pacific University, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your Pacific University writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.