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Library Research Award for Undergraduates


The University Libraries recognizes the excellence and creativity of students through the annual Library Research Award for Undergraduates. The award is given to undergraduates who demonstrate outstanding ability to identify, locate, select, evaluate, and synthesize library and other information resources and to use them in the creation of an original course project. The award illustrates the mission of the University Libraries to enrich the quality of life and advance intellectual discovery by connecting people with knowledge and commitment to the educational mission of the University of Washington.

Since the inception of the Library Research Award for Undergraduates in 2004, the UW Libraries, through the generosity of The Kenneth S. and Faye G. Allen Library Endowment and Friends of the Libraries, has awarded more than $100,000 to students. Awardees have gone on to do graduate work in universities around the country including Columbia, Harvard, Rutgers, Syracuse, Yale, and the University of Washington. They have become scientists, professors, lawyers, economists, doctors, and more.

Application requirements

Application Form
Including:

  • Reflective essay
  • Research project + bibliography
  • Population Health Award essay (optional)

Instructor Support Form

Important dates

  • Submissions Open: April 1, 2025
  • Deadline: April 30, 2025 – 11:59 p.m.
  • Reception: June 4, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
    Allen Library, Petersen Room

Details

  • Cash awards: $250 (Population Health Award), $500 to $1,000
  • Open to undergraduates on all three campuses
    for projects completed Spring 2024 – Spring 2025
  • Individual and group projects are eligible

Funded by: The Kenneth S. and Faye G. Allen Library Endowment, Friends of the Libraries, and the Population Health Initiative

Acknowledgment: University Libraries would like to thank the University of California, Berkeley Library for its assistance and inspiration in the development of this award.