Peter White Scholar Program
In order to facilitate significant enhancement of scholarly research at Northern Michigan University, the Peter White Fund annually supports the Peter White Scholar Award. The Peter White Scholar Award is intended to support faculty with a proven scholarly record and are undertaking a project that would significantly advance his/her work. Thus, projects funded by this award are intended to go above and beyond those funded under the Faculty Grants program.
The Peter White Scholar will:
- Engage in scholarly research and/or creative activities
- Prepare one or more works for publication or presentation and
- Develop applications for external funding.
In addition, the Scholar is expected to present an open colloquium on the results of the year’s work and submit a Final Report within one month after the end date of the award.
DEADLINE: 3/7/2025; MAX AWARD: $17,500
GUIDELINES
SAMPLE CV
BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TEMPLATE
EVALUATION CRITERIA
SAMPLE PROPOSALS *Note that the guidelines may have changed since these proposals were awarded
All full-time faculty who will be teaching during the next academic year (those who have an employment contract such that they would normally teach the year after the application year) are eligible to apply for the award. Faculty who will be on sabbaticals or other leaves, part-time or adjunct faculty, administrative or support staff and students are not eligible. Faculty and staff who believe that a colleague is especially qualified should submit a nomination to the Dean of Graduate Studies & Research at least one month prior to the application deadline. The Dean will contact the nominated individual to notify them of the nomination.
A faculty member who has received a Peter White Scholar Award is eligible to reapply for the same award after a five-year interim. Questions regarding eligibility should be directed to the Dean of Graduate Studies & Research.
Applicants must now complete their application through the Cayuse platform. The Office of Sponsored Programs will be hosting trainings on how to submit proposals via the Cayuse platform in the upcoming weeks so please keep a look out for those dates/times in your NMU email.
Reporting instructions
Each Peter White Scholar must file a Final Project Report by June 30 following the 12-month grant period. All funds must be encumbered on or before the end of the one-year award period.
The Scholar is also expected to present a colloquium on the year’s work to the university community at the annual Peter White Award Banquet.
FINAL REPORT GUIDELINES FOR NMU INTERNAL GRANTS
If a PI would like to request a No-Cost Extension, this No-Cost Extension form must be submitted at least 15-calendar days prior to the end of the project period.
Additional information - Proposal evaluation
The evaluation rubric used by the Faculty Grants Committee can be downloaded here. The Committee will make recommendations to the Dean of Graduate Education and Research. It is within the Committee’s purview to recommend that no award be made. Proposals from eligible applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Scholarly significance
- The soundness of the project plan
- Impact of the anticipated outcomes
- Research productivity of the investigator
- Appropriateness of the budget justification.
Voting Policy: Each proposal must be read and evaluated by a minimum of five (5) voting members of the Faculty Grants Committee. In the event that less than five committee members are available for grant assessment, alternate committee members will be called upon to fill in. Committee members who have a grant under consideration will be excluded from any deliberations concerning the Peter White Scholar Program. Alternates will take the place of these members. Ex officio committee members may contribute to discussions, but will not take part in the actual ranking of proposals.
Past awards
2024
Name: Sarah Mittelfehldt
Department: Earth, Environment, and Geographical Studies
Project Title: Biofuels & Btus: The Development of Upper Peninsula Forests as Energy Resources
2023
Name: Diana Lafferty
Department: Biology
Project Title: Carnivore Gut Microbiome Dynamics
2022
No awards given
2021
Name: John Bruggink
Department: Biology
Project Title: Homesite Ecology Of Gray Wolves In The Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem
2020
Name: Russell Prather
Department: English
Project Title: Three Solo Echibitions, Three Group Exhibitions, a Scholarly Paper and a Funded Residency
2019
Name: Joshua Carlson
Department: Psychological Science
Project Title: Testing for Neuroplastic Changes in an Extended Amygdala Network as a Target Mechanism for Attention Bias Modification Outcome
2018
Name: Gabriel Brahm
Department: English
Project Title: The New Culture Wars on Campus: Academic Freedom and the “Jewish Question”
2017
Name: Matthew Gavin Frank
Department: English
Project Title: The role of carrier pigeons in the illicit global diamond smuggling trade: A book length essay
2016
Name: Lesley Larkin
Department: English
Project Title: Reading in the Postgenomic Age
2015
Name: Zac Cogley
Department: Philosophy
Project Title: Anger is a gift: How psychology and ethics illuminate moral responsibility
2014
Name: Marek Haltof
Department: English
Project Title: Screening Auschwitz: Wanda Jakubowska’s The Last Stage (1948) and the Politics of Commemoration
2013
Name: Jaspal Singh
Department: English
Project Title: Imagining Nations and Homelands: Gender and Sikh Identity in Indian and Diasporic Literature
2011
Name: James McCommons
Department: English
Project Title: Biography of George Shiras III: World’s First Wildlife Photographer
2010
Name: John Smolens
Department: English
Project Title: The Schoolmaster’s Daughter, A Novel
2009
Name: Neil Cumberlidge
Department: Biology
Project Title: The Freshwater Crabs of Eastern Africa: production of a major taxonomic revision using advances in biodiversity informatics.
2008
Name: Stephen Burn
Department: English
Project Title: Neurofiction: Contemporary American Fiction and the Brain
2007
Name: Robert Whalen
Department: English
Project Title: The Digital Temple
2006
Name: J. Marek Haltof
Department: English
Project Title: The Holocaust in Polish Film: Uncovering the Path
2005
Name: Neil Russel
Department: Physics
Project Title:
Name: Osvaldo J. Lopez
Department: Biology
Project Title: Towards a vaccine against the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Virus (PRRSV): Using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and lactic-elevating dehydrogenase virus (LDV) as models in mice.
2004
Name: Suzanne Williams
Department: Chemistry
Project Title: Using biocalorimetry to investigate proteins that are markers for the onset or progression of Alzheimer’s disease.