Lambda Iota Tau (LIT) Research Grants

Aims and Eligibility

LIT Research Grants are designed to support individual members at the undergraduate or graduate level as they complete original research that furthers the goals of the Society. Grant money of up to $1,000, with up to $500 for runners-up, will support travel to and use of archives or collections important to their research. The winning applicants will demonstrate the relevance of the research to English and English-related fields and may also describe the effect on current coursework, future research, or career pursuits. Each applicant will identify goals, propose outcomes, and estimate specific costs for the research travel. Students may not request grant money for research supported by a previous LIT Research Grant. Any members interested in support for summer or study abroad programs would apply for those scholarships rather than for a LIT Research Grant.

Applicants may use the Sigma Tau Delta AwardSpring platform to apply for this grant. All research travel and the resulting written or presented outcome must be completed before May 2024.

Application

The 2023 application period will be between March 6 and April 10, 2023.

Step 1

Sigma Tau Delta uses the AwardSpring platform for the application process. Register for an account with your email address and a password in AwardSpring.

AwardSpring Information and Link

Step 2

Complete the questionnaire, including contact information, to determine whether the LIT Research Grant is the appropriate grant for your project.

Step 3

Through AwardSpring, you will request one letter of support from the professor directing your research project (including conference papers, coursework, senior projects, theses, portion of a dissertation, etc.).

The letter will include the following:

• confirmation that you are working under that professor’s direction;
• an explanation of any necessary permissions you will need to gain;
• a clear description of the final form the resulting scholarship will take; and
• the professor’s criteria for successful completion of this project.

The due date for this letter of support will be one week after the AwardSpring application deadline in each cycle.

Step 4

1. Complete all additional questions about the grant.
2. Provide a written description, not to exceed 500 words, that addresses the following:
   • a description of the location where the research will take place, including distance from your location at the time of the travel;
   • your specific goals for the use of these archives or collections;
   • a timeline for the use of materials or facilities, including a projected outcome date for the project in its final form;
   • a clear description of the types of information you will be using—of particular importance might be a list of holdings at this research site, an explanation of the rarity of a collection, or even a bibliography of the sources on which you will focus;
   • your rationale for how this research is pertinent to English and English-related fields; and
   • details about the ways in which this research will benefit your current coursework, future research, and/or career pursuits.

Also required, though not part of your word count, is a budget outlining your use of the funding, with specific estimates for the costs of transportation, admission, lodging, meals, and other expenditures (up to $1,000).

Following the Grant Award

Winners will work with the Central Office to coordinate the timing of funding in advance of travel. Once the project is completed, as per your timeline, the director of your research will be asked to confirm via email that you satisfied the criteria for a successful project.

In addition, you will be required to submit a 400- to 800-word blog that highlights your discoveries, outlines the importance of the archive or collection, or in some other way communicates the ways in which you benefitted from the research and the support of the LIT Research Grant.

Deadline and Dates

The deadline for 2023 applications will be April 10, 11:59 p.m. CDT. Awards will be made by May 25, 2023.