Undergraduate Research Awards

Each semester the AHC offers a cash prize to the best undergraduate research paper or project based substantially on materials — manuscripts, archives, rare books, photos, maps, audio, film and video, etc. — at the American Heritage Center. The award is entirely funded by voluntary donations from faculty and staff at the American Heritage Center. 

In order to encourage a diverse group of applicants, projects of any form — research paper, creative writing, individual or group exhibits or web sites, art, etc. — will be considered, as long as they are created for academic credit (i.e., they must be academic in nature) and are based substantially on research done at the AHC. 

• Every faculty member from every department is eligible to submit, on behalf of their students, two projects each semester.  

• Students are welcome to initiate application so long as their submission is accompanied by a letter from a faculty member. 

• Submission will consist of a copy of the product (or in the case of a web project, an active link to the full project) and a cover memo by the faculty member — both can be in electronic form.

• Submission signifies acceptance of the terms of submission, below. 

• Projects other than traditional research papers must include a process paper, a 500- to 1000-word explanation of which sources were used and how, and a summary of the process of creating and developing the project. 

A committee comprised of AHC staff and faculty will select the winning project or projects. As a condition of accepting the award, the student(s) must agree to allow the AHC to post their project on its website, so that future applicants can benefit from their example and so that the student will be able to cite the website on their curriculum vitae. As a condition of accepting the award, the student(s) must agree to permit the AHC to publish their photo in its Annual Report, to accompany report of the award. The decision of the judging committee will be final, though with the student’s permission excerpts from the committee’s evaluation of the award-winning submission will be posted on the website along with the paper or project itself. The award itself will be in the form of a certificate and a check for $500.00. No restrictions are placed on the funds.

• Undergraduate Research Award Announcement (PDF)
• Past Undergraduate Research Award winners.

Send completed application materials electronically by March 29, 2024, to AHC Archivist Leslie Waggener at lwaggen2@uwyo.edu. Candidates will be selected in May and notified by e-mail.