University at Buffalo (UB)
PEARL Award
Current juniors and seniors may apply for funding to support experiential learning activities that build upon a completed ELN project and digital badge.
Applications Open
Applications are now open for the PEARL Award. The next application deadline is November 13, 2024.
Apply for the PEARL Award
ELN is excited to continue this competitive funding opportunity for advanced UB undergraduate students who are looking to leverage their completed ELN projects and badges in transformational ways. Funds can support related travel (study abroad or other UB faculty sponsored travel), participation in conferences, workshops, or other approved activities that build upon their initial projects and integrate with their academic and professional goals.
Deadlines
- November 13, 2024
- March 26, 2025
Eligibility & Requirements
To be eligible, you must:
- Be a current junior or senior UB undergraduate student.
- Have earned an ELN Digital Badge for your completed project.
- Have a UB Faculty Mentor who agrees to oversee your proposed activities. and administer the funds per the approved budget.
Additional requirements and expectations:
- Students may apply for awards up to $2,500.
- Completed applications and signature forms are due by the given deadlines.
- Awardees will share their funded experiences through completing an additional ELN Digtal Badge.
Required Faculty Mentor
All students must work with a UB faculty mentor. The mentor must agree to oversee the experience and administer all funds awarded according to the approved budget.
Optional (but strongly encouraged) Letter of Recommendation
To support applications, students may request a brief letter of recommendation indicating support for the poropsed activities as they relate to the students academic and/or profeessional journey. Letters must be emailed directly from the recommender to ELN at ubeln@buffalo.edu by the application deadline.
Signature Form
Signature Form
All applicants must submit a completed signature form via email to ubeln@buffalo.edu by the application deadline.
What You Should Know Before Getting Started
1. Make sure you are eligible (see above).
2. Preview the application form and gather information prior to starting your submission.
3. Review the proposal evaluation criteria.
Please note, this is a highly competitive award and only complete applications will be considered.
Funding applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- Completed application: Completed applications are received on or before the funding deadline.
- Signature page: Completed signature forms are received on or before the funding deadline.
- Quality of writing: All responses are well-written with evidence of proofreading. (Center for Excellence in Writing is available to support the development of your application.)
- Clarity of proposed activities: The proposed activities are clearly explained, and it is clearly stated how the initial completed project will be built upon in a meaningful way.
- Goals: The applicant is able to make a strong case for how the proposed activities will support their academic or professional goals.
- Transformational Learning: The applicant is able to explain how the proposed activities would be transformational for them.
- Overall budget quality: The proposed budget is itemized with links showing proof of cost.
- Funding justification: A rationale for why each expense is justified and necessary is clearly stated.
Note: Funds must be used to support students' proposed activities directly and cannot be used to build out faculty lab or research infrastructure. If you are unsure if a specific budget item is allowable, please contact our office prior to submission for clarification.
5. Funding Timeline
- After the deadline, ELN staff will review all applications and email applicants directly with a funding decision. All applicants will be notified via email within two weeks of the appication deadline.
- After funding decisions are announced, the transfer of funds may take several weeks.
6.ELN Digital Badge
Awardees must complete an additional ELN Digital Badge following their funded experience.
If you start a funding application form and need to stop for any reason, you can click "Save and Resume Later" to generate a unique link. You can use that link anytime within 30 days to complete your submission.