Hopland Scholars Research Award

2024 Application Cycle is OPEN NOW!

The Hopland Scholars Research Award is designed to support and expand scientific inquiry and discovery at HREC. Funding to establish the Hopland Scholars Award is provided by generous donors to the Hopland Scholars Fund.

UC Berkeley Brashares Lab and drone (Jim Block)

Purpose: The Hopland Scholars Research Award is intended to offset costs associated with an extended (e.g., several month) period of field research or extension activity at HREC. The Award aims to reduce barriers of entry to field research by providing support for early-career or under-resourced scholars and increasing opportunities for professional development and advancement in Agriculture and Natural Resource fields.

Eligibility: This award is open to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.) of any accredited institution. While applicants do not need to be students at UC Berkeley or other campuses in the UC system, a UC mentor is required to receive award funds. To apply, students must have the written support of a UC faculty member, specialist, or county adviser who will serve as PI for the student’s proposed research project.

Projects in all science disciplines will be considered if they use resources and infrastructure available at HREC. However, key areas of interest are projects that show promise of furthering UC ANR’s Public Value Statements:

Protecting California’s natural resources.
Promoting healthy people and communities.
Building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
Improving animal management, productivity and efficiency.
Developing an inclusive and equitable society.

Award: Awards of approximately $1,600 each will be made annually; the exact number of awards per year will depend upon available funding. The award will not be paid directly to the recipient but will instead be internally allocated to cover HREC project fees. Additionally, award recipients will also receive up to 10 nights of free lodging on-site to support their research or extension activities.

Awardees will be required to submit a 1-2 page final report about the overall project including photos of their research or extension activities and a description of how the Award helped to support their scholarly or professional development. Reports will be due one year after funded projects begin.

View of HREC headquarters from Lambing pasture.

Application process: Applicants must complete a Research Proposal through the Universal Review System.

If you are experiencing difficulties with the URS system, please fill out a Research Proposal word document instead, and email it to jtbailey@ucanr.edu. (Click to download: project-proposal-form )

Then an Award Application must be submitted using this online application.

Decision process: Applications will be reviewed by a group comprised of HREC leadership and key donor advisers. Decision criteria will include:

Relevance of proposed research or extension activities to UCANR’s Public Value Statements listed above.
Ability of the Award to provide field experience relevant to the applicant’s academic and professional goals.
Extent of scholarly, supervisory, technical, or financial assistance provided by the applicant’s UC mentor in support of their project success.

Full Applications (Research Proposal AND Award Application) will be accepted on a rolling basis and up to four Awards will be given for the 2024-2025 annual research cycle.

Inquiries about the Hopland Scholars Research Award or application process can be made to the HREC Director, John Bailey, at jtbailey@ucanr.edu or by calling (707) 744-1424 x 1649.