In Memory of Venerable Gemma Doyim Koh, Dean of Sacred Heart College, Professor of Catholic University, and Founding President of the ISR Foundation-Korea
The da Vinci Grant Program (DVG) supports highly promising Asian university students and emerging leaders committed to innovative research in health sciences, technology, arts, humanities, social science and related disciplines. The program aims to invest not only in creative research relevant to Asia, but also in the students as future scholars and leaders of Asia and the global research community. The DVG program was established in 2012 in memory of Venerable Professor Gemma Doyim Koh (1935-2001) of the Catholic University and former Dean of Sacred Heart College, the Republic of Korea. Professor Koh served as the founding President of the ISRF-Korea, or the International Reconciliation Corps in Korean.
Successful research proposals for DVG will detail a creative plan for interdisciplinary research with pragmatic applications. Students should incorporate their main disciplines with at least two other fields that include survey methodology and statistics. In addition, students should demonstrate how the research project fits into their projected plans for study or work at the hosting university and beyond. Examples of possible research topics include, but are not limited to: improving international business management by incorporating survey data and statistical analysis, evaluating agricultural programs by collecting survey data with farms, designing and testing an educational assessment survey for high school or college students, developing a method of survey data collection by cell phones, or crafting a computerized method of linking big data such as international surveys, census and administrative records, etc.
Students will work closely with select hosting university faculty and an international faculty adviser for one year to research and author a paper to present at the following year's PSI. These faculty advisers will help direct students’ research and writing. In some cases, a student may co-author a paper with an adviser with the student as the lead author. Students are encouraged to choose a PSI and/or hosting university faculty adviser prior to submitting their proposal. However, having no adviser in advance will not disqualify applicants.
Students with the three best proposals will receive additional funding to attend and present their research in a renowned international conference on survey methods and statistics in the U.S., Europe, or Asia (e.g., Joint Statistical Meetings, European Survey Research Association, International Statistical Institute, or American Association for the Advancement of Science). These grants cover travel to and registration for the academic conference.
Criteria for selection include the validity and feasibility of the research proposal, the candidate’s academic and other preparation, the innovative and creative incorporation of survey methodology and statistics with other disciplines, relevance and benefit of the proposal to the DPRK, English proficiency, and demonstration of how the project fits within the applicant’s academic and professional profile.
Proposals will be reviewed by the DVG Review Committee, composed of PSI and hosting university faculty and DVG Director, Yena Lee. Questions may be directed to yena.lee@yale.edu.
Award amount: Several grants for the value of $500 each; three grants for up to the value of $5,000 each, covering the travel cost of each awarded research team's principal investigator to an international conference to present interdisciplinary survey research studies. Grants are made possible by supporters of innovative interdisciplinary research to advance international collaboration in survey methodology, statistics and related subject areas, and benefit the disadvantaged people.
Term of award: Sep 2019 – August 2020
Submission deadline: August 31, 2019 by 11:59 pm
Awardees announced: October 2019
Application checklist: □ Application cover letter □ Up to 9,000-word research proposal □ One letter of recommendation, preferably by a potential adviser, emailed directly to yena.lee@yale.edu. □ Résumé