The Charles H. Ramsden Endowed Fund is a bequest to support and enrich undergraduate education in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science. This includes scholarship support, subsidies for field trips and undergraduate field work, upgrades of facilities that enhance the undergraduate curriculum, as well as efforts to attract qualified students.

Proposals are solicited for projects to improve the undergraduate infrastructure in the Department for the long term (next 10-20 years). Proposals by individuals or groups must contain a detailed budget (1 page) and a brief description (no more than 1-2 pages) that outlines the impact of the project on undergraduate education, including anticipated increase in enrollment. The electronic forms can be downloaded from the EPS internal website either in MS-Word or pdf format. Use this form to prepare and submit a proposal. The total available budget is currently ~$380,000 and its distribution will be spread over the next four years, at a rate of about $95,000 a year.  For large projects (exceeding $20,000), applicants are encouraged to seek matching funds and should discuss options for spreading the project over several years. If you are a previous recipient of a Ramsden award, please describe in a paragraph what has been achieved and document how effective it has been meeting its goal.

Proposals must be submitted to Catherine Pauling (cpauling@calmail.berkeley.edu) by April 16, 2008. The Ramsden Committee will evaluate and rank the proposals and make recommendations to the Department Chair, who will make the final decision about fund allocations. Funds will become available after July 1.

In addition, a total of at least $20,000 is available every year for scholarship support, individual undergraduate field expenses and innovative recruiting efforts. Applications for scholarship support and stipends will be accepted any time and must include a statement by the student (1 page), an up-to-date transcript, and at least one letter of recommendation by a faculty member. As with long-term projects, the Ramsden Committee will make recommendations about scholarships and short-term projects and the Chair will make the final decision. Please encourage qualified undergraduates to apply!

The Ramsden Committee: Lynn Ingram (Chair), Richard Allen, Doug Dreger and Catherine Pauling.