Withall of the work college students have to do for classes, on many of occasionswe’ve stopped in the middle of a boring assignment to think,’?What’s the point of me writing this paper?’ or ‘?Why doI have to learn this?’ It might surprise many people with these thoughtsthat there are organizations offering money to students to do these seeminglymundane tasks. Yes, there might be someone who wants to pay you to do yourschoolwork.

SUNY Stony Brook, along with many otherinstitutions around the world, presents students with the opportunity toenhance their education through research grants. Here on campus, studies arefunded in many areas of study, including biology, engineering, chemistry,physics, mathematics and statistics. The money typically comes from agenciesoutside of campus who use their resources to establish fellowships or traininggrants in hopes of encouraging further research in their field of interest.These organizations cover the cost of research materials and in some casesoffer stipends to subsidize, or even cover, the cost of living or meals. StonyBrook normally offers college credits for these projects as well.

These grants fund projects which students undertake outside of their averageclass load. Research work can be completed at companies and researchlaboratories on Long Island and around the country. The hope is that studentswill learn more about their field of study while adding to the knowledge baseof the organization providing the grant.

‘?Becomingaware of the potential for receiving grant funds is the first step inapplying,’ said Kristina Duryea, Librarian for Research Opportunities atStony Brook. The steps to securing a grant include filling out a researchgrant application, providing academic credentials, and making a case as to whythe research opportunity should be given to you, usually in the form of a shortessay

Thegoal, _______ said, is to give students real-world experience in the fieldthat they are studying. Part of this includes the independent planning of aschedule and budget for the project. In preparing for the project, studentsmust document the amount of time they plan on spending on each task involvedand detail how the grant money will be spent, taking into account equipment,travel expenses, lodging and food.

There are grant opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.More information on research grants is available on the SBU website,http://www.stonybrook.edu