Eligibility requirements
For faculty/student teams
- Funding is intended to support research in the field sciences.
- Applicants must be two-person teams made up of a current UC faculty member and an undergraduate student enrolled at UC. While other students, technicians, or volunteers may participate in various aspects of the project, they are not eligible for this fellowship, which is intended to encourage mentoring between faculty and undergraduates.
- Applicants must use at least one of the UC Nature reserves for a significant part of their field research project.
For participating undergraduate students
- Must be seeking a degree from UC (short-term international students are not eligible).
- Must be in good academic standing at a UC campus. Good academic standing requires the student’s cumulative GPA as well as the GPA from the most recently completed term to be at least 2.0.
- Must be enrolled at UC through the end of the proposed research project.
- Must be available to perform the equivalent of eight weeks of full-time research during the project field season.
Research approvals
Before awarding the fellowships, the UC Nature Systemwide Office will request pre-authorization for the proposed research from the managers of the relevant UC Nature reserves. Successful applicants will need to submit a reserve use application through the UC Nature’s Reserve Application Management System (RAMS) for formal approval. In addition, fellowship recipients will be required to provide evidence of campus Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approvals as well as all other necessary permits (state, federal, or other) where applicable.
Evaluation criteria
The following will be considered in the selection of Field Science Fellowship recipients:
- Quality of the proposed research
- Research is highly dependent on UC Nature reserve/s
- Roles and responsibilities of the undergraduate in the proposed research
- Faculty’s commitment to mentorship and time invested in the field
- Student’s interest in and enthusiasm for field research
- Student’s academic and career goals, and the impact on their academic trajectory
- Alignment with the Samuelsen Conservation Scholars Initiative, which aims to introduce a broad range of students underrepresented in the environmental sciences to the joys and rigors of field research.
Application process
Applications for Summer 2027 will be accepted from October 1, 2026, through February 15, 2027. All applicants must use our online application system, Submittable, to apply.
Undergraduate application materials should be uploaded to the Submittable application, linked here: https://nrs.submittable.com/submit
Both the undergraduate and faculty co-applicants must complete their respective portions of the application.
View examples of both student and faculty application questions at a glance by downloading this pdf [PDF, 87.02 KB]. [PDF, 82.43 KB]
Student must
- respond to student application questions
- upload resume
- upload unofficial UC transcript
- upload financial aid award letter
Faculty must
- respond to faculty application questions
- upload a description of the proposed research (maximum 3 pages)
Completed applications will be reviewed by a UC-wide committee. Award decisions will be emailed to applicants by April 2027.