Capstone Grants 

2024 Application NOW OPEN!

Award Definition

The purpose of the Histochemical Society’s Capstone Research Grant is to provide assistance to further the research projects of undergraduate students who propose to use immunohistochemistry or other histochemical techniques in their projects.  We aim to encourage undergraduate students to effectively utilize histochemistry as an analytical method for biological research under the direction of a faculty mentor. The Histochemical Society will award $2,000 to successful applicants and mentors.  Preference will be given to students who hold a junior or senior academic standing.  It is expected that the research would be completed within approximately one year.  Students whose research is supported by the Capstone Research Grant will be required to report their findings to the Histochemical Society Education Committee upon the completion of the project.


Applicant Requirements 

The Capstone grant is awarded to a faculty mentor to support the work of a student applicant. Students must be undergraduates and current members of the Histochemical Society. Mentor must be a current faculty mentor with commitment to support the proposed undergraduate research project. Mentors who are current members of the Histochemical Society will be given preference.  Ideally, student applicants will have conducted research previously and this award will be used to help the students to collect remaining data to prepare the project for publication or presentation.  Preference will be given to students who will be juniors or seniors during the proposed research. A letter of introduction, student resume/CV, research plan, mentor biosketch or CV, and mentoring plan with timeline, and letter of support from mentor, are part of the application.

 
Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated on the effective and necessary correct use of immunohistochemistry or other histochemical techniques and the extent to which toward completion of the project requires these methods.  Likelihood of successful completion of the project (based on availability of appropriate laboratory space, equipment and institutional support) and significance of the question being addressed will also be considered. Click here for more information on application scoring.


Reporting

Successful applicants should submit a summary of their project in the form of a scientific manuscript. (A publication or submitted manuscript with the grantee as the first author will also be accepted as the required report.) This should be submitted within 2 months of the project’s completion date

Timeline

March 1 to May 31: applications accepted
July: Applicants notified
August: Funds disbursed
August 31 of following year: Project completion
October 31 of following year or prior to student’s graduation: Report submitted to the HCS Education Committee


Acceptance of funding

The Histochemical Society will work with awardee mentors and their institution to determine the best mechanism for delivering the funds.  The HCS reserves the right to publish names and photographs of the awardees on the HCS website and other informational forums, including social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Grant funds may be transferred within the same mentor lab if the student awardee is unable to fulfill the terms of the grant, provided mentor notifies HCS and submits the new student’s CV/resume and updated timeline for completion of the project.

Contact Information

Please contact Education Committee Chair, Joe Cheatwood ([email protected]) or HCS Executive Director, Kendra LaDuca ([email protected]) regarding any questions.

Research Plan

To apply, your will be asked to submit a student authored Research Plan (3 page limit).  Please include the following:

  1. Hypothesis
  2. Rationale, including why IHC techniques are necessary for project
  3. Previous/Supporting Data
  4. Methods, including use of IHC techniques and controls
  5. References
  6. Dissemination plan: planned presentation/publication outlets for undergraduate student
  7. Submission Guidelines
    1. 3 Page Limit, excluding figure (if applicable), references and dissemination plan
    2. Margins should be no smaller than 1”
    3. Font should be 10pt. Arial or Times New Roman
    4. 1 Figure may be included
    5. Submit in PDF format
    6. Applicants' mentors will also be asked to provide an ORCID ID. (To obtain and ORCID ID, follow the instructions here https://orcid.org/register.)

Apply

To apply you must submit your Research Plan (outlined above), Student CV/Resume, mentoring plan with timeline, mentor's biosketch/CV and letter of support.  Applications for 2024 Grants are now OPEN.

Apply for a Capstone Grant
 See 2023 Grant Awardees