The Wilson Initiation Grant is intended to jump start the research of a tenure-line faculty member. The award recipient will receive $10,000 from the Wilson Endowment Fund and a recognition memento at the Wilson Awards Banquet held each spring.
Focus
The Wilson Initiation Grant is intended to jump start the research of a new tenure-line faculty member. The award recipient will receive $10,000. The period of the award is through June 30 of the following year and any unspent balance will be returned to the fund for reallocation.
Nomination Procedure
Annually in September, the dean invites nominations for the Wilson Research Initiation Grant from each department and institute. Reminders are sent in November.
Each department and institute may submit one nomination using the form below (submitted by the department head or director) and the nomination packet should include:
- Title page including name, rank, department affiliation
- Summary of proposed research, limited to one page and written for nonspecialists
- Narrative of three pages or less in which the problem is defined, the need, value or significance of the work is indicated, and the research plan is broadly outlined
- Short vita, including related publications and experience
- Proposed budget including fringe benefits and tuition
- Recent high-resolution color photograph suitable for program in jpeg format
The nomination materials should be submitted no later than February 15.
Eligibility
Must be a new tenure track faculty member, with a service accumulation of two calendar years or less by the application date of the current year. Preference will be given to proposals from assistant professors.
Selection Procedure
Nominations are solicited from departments and institutes (typically there is a limit of one nomination per category per department or institute; see the Nomination Procedure guidance under each award). Department heads and institute directors are able to provide new nominations or request reconsideration of last year’s nominees. A selection committee, comprising the deans of the college, reviews and discusses the nominations and selects the recipient in each category.
While a proposal is expected to contain specialized content, it should have a clear enough discussion of the background, the problem, and the significance so that a reviewer not in the discipline finds it understandable. The review criteria include:
- Overall scientific and/or technical merits of the proposal
- Innovativeness of the research
- Adequacy of facilities and equipment to accomplish the research
- Reasonableness of the proposed costs
- Prospects for the development of a long term scholarly activity
Funds for the awardee will be available after July 1 of the year receiving.
Current Recipient
Anastasia Piliouras
Assistant Professor of Geosciences
Previous Recipients
The following EMS faculty members have received the Wilson Research Initiation Grant:
| Year | Faculty/Department |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Anastasia Piliouras, Assistant Professor of Geosciences |
| 2022 | Urara Hasegawa, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2021 | Wesley Reinhart, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2020 | Amin Mehrabian, Assistant Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering |
| 2019 | Hamid Emami-Meybodi, Assistant Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering |
| 2018 | Robert Hickey, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Mohammed Rezaee, Assistant Professor of Mining Engineering Tieyuan Zhu, Assistant Professor of Geosciences |
| 2017 | Bronwen Powell - Assistant Professor of Geography and African Studies |
| 2016 | Anthony Didlake - Meteorology Tess Russo - Geosciences |
| 2015 | Chiara Lo Prete - Energy and Mineral Engineering Clio Andris - Geography |
| 2014 | Nasim Alem - Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2013 | Shimin Liu - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2012 | Elizabeth A. Hajek - Geosciences |
| 2011 | Roman Engel-Herbert - Materials Science and Engineering |
| 2010 | Li Li - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2009 | Seth Blumsack - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2008 | Fan Zhang - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2007 | Kamini Singha - Geosciences |
| 2006 | Petra Tschakert - Geography |
| 2005 | Luis Ayala - Energy and Mineral Engineering Zuleima Karpyn - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2004 | Ronald Hedden - Materials Science and Engineering Eric Kirby - Geography Angela Lueking - Energy and Mineral Engineering Mark Roulston - Meteorology Andrew Schissler - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 2003 | Vladislav Kecojevic - Energy and Mineral Engineering Mercedes Maroto-Valer - Energy and Mineral Engineering Christopher Muhlstein - Materials Science and Engineering Qing Wang - Materials Science and Engineering Peter Wilf - Geosciences |
| 2002 | Chris Benner - Geography Joel Haight - Energy and Mineral Engineering Paul Markowski - Meteorology David O'Sullivan - Geography |
| 2001 | William A. Groves - Energy and Mineral Engineering Christopher H. House - Geosciences Melissa W. Wright - Geography |
| 2000 | Andrew N. Kleit - Energy and Mineral Engineering James Kubicki - Geosciences Evangelos Manias - Materials Science and Engineering |
| 1999 | Colin Flint - Geography Zi-Kui Liu - Materials Science and Engineering Cem Sarica - Energy and Mineral Engineering Zili Yang - Energy and Mineral Engineering |
| 1998 | Lorraine Dowler - Geography |
| 1997 | Ahmet E. Kocagil - Energy and Mineral Engineering Andrew A. Nyblade - Geosciences |
| 1996 | Andre Boehman - Energy and Mineral Engineering Andrew Carleton - Geography Ralph Colby - Materials Science and Engineering Jeffrey Lazo - Energy and Mineral Engineering Suzanne Mohney - Materials Science and Engineering Mark E. Patzkowsky - Geosciences Andrew Sluyter - Geography Todd Sowers - Geosciences |
