The 1999 Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards will provide a significant number of grants to current freshmen, sophomores and juniors in the schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Nursing and in the Peabody Conservatory.

The money may be used to pay the costs of the winner's research or creative projects; winners may choose either to receive up to $1,500 of the total award as a cash stipend or to receive academic credit for their work.

Past awards have funded projects with such diverse titles as "Chinese History in the 20th Century," "The Impact of a Frontier Environment on Literature," "Intravenous Delivery of Chitosan-Medicated Gene Therapy in Vivo" and "Exploring Russian Baroque Music for Woodwinds."

This program was initiated in 1993 by then provost Joseph Cooper as an effort to encourage undergraduates to engage in research activity. According to Cooper's successor, Steven Knapp, "These grants build on what has always been a special strength of our undergraduate programs across the university: the opportunity for students to collaborate, at the highest intellectual level, with faculty investigators at the forefront of their fields."

Applications are available from the office of Theodore Poehler, vice provost for research, at 275 Garland Hall, Homewood, 410-516-8072. Completed applications for summer projects must be submitted by noon on March 12; for fall semester proposals, by April 9.