Charles H. Ramsden Endowed Fellowship

Background Overview

A generous bequest from Mr. Charles H. Ramsden, an alumnus of the department, has made it possible to provide financial support to undergraduate students who are declared majors in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science.

Ramsden funds can be used for undergraduate research opportunities, field camp costs, travel to conferences, and outreach events.

For all queries, please email: epsramsden@berkeley.edu

Eligibility

  • Declared undergraduate major in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science

  • In good academic standing 

  • Funds cannot be requested to pay for activities already conducted and are for future activities only.

  • Awarding money during the academic year to students currently on financial aid may result in a decrease of your current aid. 

Funding Categories

To apply for the Ramsden funds for any of the categories listed below, click the corresponding link below.

Research Fellowship: 2024-2025 deadlines -- December 13th, April 4th, August 1st deadlines

  • Awards undergraduates to perform research under the supervision of a faculty member on EPS-related subtopics. Funds may cover field and/or laboratory expenses, data acquisition, software and publications, and stipends based on an hourly rate and hours worked. Grants may be up to $2,000 per semester for Fall and Spring, and up to $6,500 for Summer. Funds can be used to support both term-time and summer research including that for academic credit, for pay, or volunteer work. Summer research must be 8 continuous weeks and should be conducted on campus (excluding any necessary field work). 

  • Proposals must be accompanied by an up-to-date transcript (a downloaded PDF from CalCentral is acceptable). A letter of support is required from the faculty advisor. 

  • Research proposals should be one-page and describe the proposed research question, provide methodologies to be used, expected outcomes, and references to the scientific literature. In addition, a one-page budget justification must be included and approved by the faculty advisor. Any proposal that is longer than one page (excluding the budget) will be returned to the proposer without review. 

Field Camp Support: Rolling Deadline

  •  EPS 118 is a required class for all geology majors. The current course material fee (CMF) is (2022-2023) $850-$1200. Declared UC Berkeley EPS majors will have the CMF waived and Ramsden funds will be used to cover the costs for the department. This happens automatically and EPS majors do not need to apply. Note that Ramsden funds may not be used to cover EPS 118 costs for any non-EPS majors or visiting students. Such students must pay the CMF themselves. 
  • If a situation arises  where, through no fault of one’s own, it is not possible to take EPS 118 (e.g., it is canceled and you need to graduate), Ramsden funds can be requested (up to $2,500) to offset the cost of an alternative field camp. In order to qualify for Ramsden funds for a non-EPS 118 field camp, students must be Geology majors and must explain why they cannot take the UC Berkeley field camp. The student must have discussed this with both the geology faculty advisor and the professor teaching EPS 118. A combined letter of support must be provided from both the geology undergraduate advisor and professor teaching EPS 118 attesting to their support for the student to take an outside field camp. 

Travel to Conferences: Rolling Deadline

  • Ramsden Funds can be used to attend one conference related to EPS during one’s undergraduate studies including for fees, travel, and incidentals. Conferences unrelated to EPS fields will not be supported. Students must be current undergraduate majors when applying and when the conference takes place. 
  • When AGU is in San Francisco (or other local meetings), registration and abstract submission fees will be covered for all requesting EPS majors regardless of whether they are presenting material or not. No letter of support is needed. (Local meetings do not count to the one-conference limit.) 
  • For all other meetings (GSA, AGU not in San Francisco, etc), the Ramsden will contribute up to $500 that can be used for travel costs, registration, abstract fees, and incidentals. To qualify, students must be EPS majors, be presenting, and have a letter of support from their advisor. 
  • Ramsden funds must be requested and approved prior to abstract submission or conference registration. 

Outreach Events: Rolling Deadline

  • Ramsden can provide funds for department-wide events. Any proposed event must be geared towards EPS-related education. Examples could include field trips to a site of geological importance, a seminar with a guest speaker, graduate school application workshop. All events supported by the Ramsden must be open and advertised to all EPS majors. Request for ‘swag’ must be intended for EPS majors only.

Apply

Funds will be available approximately two weeks after final decision 

Questions? Please contact epsramsden@berkeley.edu

 Current Ramsden Faculty Committee: Prof. Paul Renne, Prof. Stephen Self, Prof. Rudy Wenk

Ramsden Fund Manager: Veronica Padilla

Ramsden Coordinator: Anna Atkinson