Research Awards
UC Santa Cruz’s Deans and Chancellor honor undergraduate excellence in research and creativity through the annual Deans’ and Chancellor’s Undergraduate Awards.
All winners—Dean’s, Chancellor’s, and Steck Awardees—are celebrated during Undergraduate Student Achievement Week, with graduating recipients acknowledged at the UCSC commencement ceremonies.
Deans’ undergraduate awards
Each year, fifty outstanding undergraduate research theses or projects (ten from each academic division) are selected to receive Dean’s Awards. Recipients of the Dean’s Award will receive $100 in recognition of their exceptional work.
Chancellor’s undergraduate award
From the pool of Dean’s Award recipients, up to fifteen projects will be selected for a Chancellor’s Award, recognizing the very best work across divisions. Each Chancellor’s Award recipient will receive $500.
Steck award
The prestigious Steck Award is presented to the most outstanding project chosen from the Chancellor’s Awardees. The Steck Award winner (or team) will receive $2,000, and the mentor will receive $1,000. The winning project will be bound and copies given to the student(s), their research supervisor, the UC Santa Cruz Library, and the Steck Family, whose generous contributions make this award possible.
How to Apply
Applications for the Deans’ and Chancellor’s Awards open annually in the first week of February. The application will be available on this webpage in February.
Letter of Recommendation from a faculty mentor
- Each submission must include one letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor/sponsor.
- When an application is submitted, the faculty member will automatically receive a link to upload their recommendation.
- Mentors must have a CruzID and be affiliated with UCSC (faculty, lecturers, postdocs, researchers, etc.).
Research project requirements
- A description or abstract of the research project is required.
- Attach a completed thesis, project, or video performance. Projects must be finished by the submission deadline.
Group projects
For group projects, one student (typically the lead) should submit the application and list the other project members. Each member must approve the application. The mentor must also approve the project when submitting their letter of recommendation.
Additional details:
- Applicants must sign up for direct deposit through their MyUCSC student portal.
- Projects in foreign languages must include an appropriate translation.
- Projects completed in the spring quarter are eligible for submission in the next academic year, even if the student has already graduated.
- Technical papers must include a non-technical abstract.
- Previous award winners may only submit new projects if they differ significantly in scope or topic from prior submissions.