Harvey Mudd College
AC-10: Support for Research

Harvey Mudd has offered, and continues to offer, a number of sustainability-related research opportunities for students through: (1) each year, the Hixon Center provides up to three summer research fellowships to students interested in performing research in environmental sustainability. These students, aptly referred to as ‘Hixon Fellows’, receive a summer research stipend and directly engage in the Center’s research projects. These projects may also entail opportunities for students to work with other organizations or companies. By summer 2018, a total of 15 students will received the Hixon fellowship since summer 2015. Research conducted by most of those students in sustainability has positively impacted others and the number of applicants is growing every year; (2) the Rasmussen Summer Research Fund at Harvey Mudd College, administrated by Albert Dato, has recently been integrated into the Hixon Center for Sustainable Environmental Design. The Rasmussen Fund supports student and faculty research in the area of environmental sustainability. The Fund is dedicated to supporting science-based inquiry into a broad range of environmental issues, in the form of faculty and/or student research proposals. Projects are funded through the summer, and recipients present their findings upon return to campus in the fall. Dozens of projects dating back several years have been supported and completed successfully by students and faculty, and this fund has been a milestone for numerous faculty/student research for the past eight years; (3) the Ben Huppe '14 Memorial Internship for a Sustainable World is an excellent funded opportunity for research and community engagement. Every year, three recipients receive support for an internship or research that involve direct, hands-on work in areas such as renewable energy, green technologies, environmental sustainability and/or the use of technology to solve problems of under-served population.

Internal and external sources of funding exist to encourage and strengthen scholarly activity and foster a community of scholars across disciplines including sustainability at Harvey Mudd. Promoting faculty professional development, internal grants also couple research and education, and enhance experiential learning on campus. A few examples: (1) the Rasmussen Summer Research Fund at Harvey Mudd College supports student and faculty research in the area of environmental sustainability. The Fund is dedicated to supporting science-based inquiry into a broad range of environmental issues, in the form of either faculty or/and student research proposals. Faculty recieve a $1000 stipend for an HMC faculty advisor, and funds for equipment, supplies and student travel to/from place where research will be conducted; (2) the Beckman Endowment and General Support Research Grants offer financial support for faculty research. Proposals for are reviewed and recommended for funding by Harvey Mudd’s Faculty Research Committee. In recent years, the Beckman Endowment has provided in annual support for six to eight projects; (3) the Rose Hills Foundation Science and Engineering Summer Research Fellowships (includes a $1250 stipend or discretionary funds for faculty); (4) the Sherman Fairchild Foundation Summer Research Fellowships (includes funding for supplies/travel and $1,000 for faculty); (5) The Fletcher Jones Foundation Summer Research Fellowships (includes $2,000 for supplies/travel related to the research project); and (6) Harvey Mudd College also encourages faculty to apply for external funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF), the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Research Fund, the Fulbright Scholars Program, and the Haynes Foundation.