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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Student Research Grants

SCU student does research at the campus learning commons.
Fall 2024 Hackworth Grants

The application period has closed for Fall, 2024.

Undergraduate and graduate students at Santa Clara University are invited to apply for grants to support research on applied ethics funded by an endowment from Michael and Joan Hackworth to the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

Grants will be made to support student research that results in a paper or project undertaken in connection with the fulfillment of the requirements of a student's studies at SCU. Applications are encouraged from all departments and schools of the University.

Grants will be made to support purchase of materials or access to databases, travel or lodging expenses, or other legitimate expenses that make the student research possible.

Grants may not exceed $2500.

Applications should make explicit the ethical aspect of the project. This can be done, for instance, by explaining how a proposal in philosophy aims at clarifying key ethical values or theories at stake in an important ethical debate. This can also be done, for instance, by explaining how a proposal in sociology intends to categorize or shed light on assumptions about ethical values that are influential in understanding a particular social problem. These suggestions about making explicit the ethical component of the project are only meant as examples. Hackworth Grants are available for a wide variety of projects with explicit ethical significance. Where relevant, the application should include documentation about sources. 

An email request for applications will be sent out early in the Fall and Spring Quarters. Fall Quarter applications will be due in early December; Spring Quarter applications will be due in late May. Specific due dates for applications will be announced in the email requests for applications.

Grants awards will be made by the end of the Fall and Spring Quarters.

Grant applications will be evaluated by a committee of faculty affiliated with the Ethics Center.

Please note that engineering senior design projects are not currently eligible for Hackworth Grant funding.

    

Apply for a Hackworth Research Grant Previous Grant Winners

Recent Grants

2024

Ukeme Abasi Bassey, Counseling Psychology,

"ChatGPT for ‘Therapy’? A Demographic Analysis of ChatGPT Users Seeking Emotional Support." 

Sofie Fernandez, Child Studies and Psychology,

“A Toolkit for Bilingual Education in California.”

Kaitlin Webster, Gender Studies and Neuroscience,

"Black Feminist Concerns in Social Media Research."

Emma Williams, Child Studies and Psychology,

“Children's Literature and the Criminal Justice System.”

2023

Adejire Bademosi, Social Impact and Education Doctorate

"The Voices of the HoCo Student Walkout." 

Anna Santana, Education in Social Justice Leadership Doctorate

"The Social, Living, and Educational Conditions of Farmworker Families Residing in a California Migrant Housing Center." 

Daisy Halaszyn, Accounting & Information Systems, ’25,

"Bitcoin in El Salvador: The Ethics of Cryptocurrency in Emerging Economies."

Justin Sun, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science, ’24,

"Space Ethics."