Finding a Fulbright: Christopher Lupke
Christopher Lupke, associate professor of Chinese, is heading to China this January because of a Mission to DC trip he made last fall.
While meeting with officials from five governmental granting agencies, he learned about the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship through the U.S. Department of Education, applied and was accepted. That fellowship will allow him to continue his research into post-war Chinese literature from three Asian locations during 2007.
In addition to his own fellowship, Lupke’s visit resulted in $20,000 scholarships for three of his students. While visiting with a representative of the National Security Education Program, he learned much more about their scholarship program for undergraduates studying languages critical to U.S. national security interests. Four students applied; three were accepted, and the fourth was selected as an alternate.
“Like those scholarships, the Fulbright was an immediate development from the Mission to DC,” Lupke said. “I hope to have other grants approved later that came from that trip.”
“I strongly recommend that faculty interested in conducting research and wanting external funding should go on one of these trips. Absolutely.”
Building her career: Linda Eddy
Linda Eddy, assistant professor of nursing at Vancouver, came to WSU with a research goal focusing on the health needs of children with disabilities. Seeking effective collaboration as well as funding for that research, she joined the Mission to DC in December 2004.
The trip was the “single most important thing I’ve done to get my research career at WSU off the ground,” she said. “The DC visit provided the research support and mentorship I needed.”
As part of her Mission to DC preparation, “I found a program appropriate for my interest and located the program officer,” Eddy said. “When I was in DC, we had a long visit and he suggested that I apply for a specific grant. I did and was funded.”
Through the grant, she joined the University of Washington Center for Outcomes Research in Rehabilitation (UWCORR), an interdisciplinary team that had been established earlier by the National Institutes of Health. She explains that she has benefited from the interaction with that group of research collaborators and mentors, and is now planning her next NIH grant.
“The likelihood of funding for my research has certainly increased with this existing NIH grant and with this collaboration with NIH peers,” she said. “Being part of UWCORR has been invaluable.”
“The Mission to DC program is an excellent way to advance research careers,” Eddy said. “When I tell my colleagues at other universities about it, they are in awe.”
