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ChLA Hannah Beiter Graduate Student Research Grants

The Hannah Beiter Graduate Student Research Grants were established to honor the memory of Dr. Hannah Beiter, a long-time supporter of student participation in the Children's Literature Association. The Beiter Grants have a combined maximum fund of up to $5,000 per year, and individual awards may range from $500 to $1,500, based on the number and needs of the winning applicants.

Submission Period:

December 15 - February 1

General Guidelines:

  • Beiter grant funds are not intended as income to assist in the completion of a graduate degree (e.g., applied to tuition), but as support for research that may be related to the dissertation or master's thesis.

  • The award may be used to purchase supplies and materials (e.g., books, videos, equipment), as research support (photocopying, etc.), to underwrite travel to special collections or libraries, or time release.

  • Winners must either be members of the Children's Literature Association or join the association before they receive any funds.

  • Winners should acknowledge ChLA in any publication resulting from the award.

  • Winners will be notified in April, and the awards will be announced at the ChLA annual conference. Winners are urged to attend the conference if at all possible and will be notified in sufficient time to make plans to collect travel funding from their institution.

  • All proposals are read and judged by the ChLA Grants Committee.

  • All graduate students can apply for Beiter Grants, and Grants Committee members agree to recuse themselves from voting on any proposals of students whom they advise.

  • Recipients of a Beiter Grant are not eligible to reapply until the third year from the date of the first award. (In the event the ChLA Board institutes another time interval - whether longer or shorter - the vote of the Board shall supersede the three-year interval rule.)

  • If there are no proposals for the Beiter Grants that the Grants Committee deems of sufficient quality to support ChLA's aims, no grants will be given.

  • Grant recipients are required to submit a progress report or a summary of the completed project to the chair of the Grants Committee by April of the year following the award.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Proposals should be submitted electronically as an attachment dated within the application period (December 15 - February 1 annually). Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

  • Applications and supporting materials should be written in or translated into English.

  • Proposals should take the form of a single Word document and include the following information:
    • Cover sheet including name, telephone number, mailing address and e-mail address, academic institution and status (M.A. candidate, Ph.D. candidate), expected date of degree.
    • A detailed description of the research proposal (not to exceed three single-spaced pages), indicating the nature and significance of the project, where it will be carried out, rough budget, and the expected date of completion.
    • A curriculum vitae.
    • Letters of Reference:Two letters of reference, one of which must be from the applicant's dissertation or thesis advisor, attesting specifically to the significance of the project and to the applicant's capacity to complete it. These letters should be submitted by email to the ChLA Association manager at [email protected] within the application period.

The grants are awarded for proposals of original scholarship with the expectation that the undertaking will lead to publication or a conference presentation and contribute to the field of children's literature criticism.