Each semester, Loyola’s Student Government Association offers the Richard Frank Grant to students interested in conducting research in any field of study. The grant is open to all Loyola students and provides up to $500 for research purposes.

SGA ensures winners of the grant receive their payments and that the funds are sufficient for their projects.

Jourdan Webb, SGA director of communications, said no students have applied for the Richard Frank Grant so far this semester.

“A few years ago it was really competitive, and last year the numbers started slowing down. Then this year we haven’t had any applicants,” Webb said. “I don’t know whether that’s because people aren’t aware of it or because no one has had the need.”

“It’s definitely something we want to work on — letting people know that we have this fund, and that if you’re doing research we’d love to help,” she added.

According to Webb, the grant can be used to conduct class or non-class related studies. A common use is to put the money toward paying participants in focus groups.

“For example, I’m a sociology minor and we have research proposals, and every research project has a budget to carry it out,” Webb said.

“Say you’re researching an elementary school,” she said. “Just to get into the school you need to pay. Sociology majors have a capstone project where they have to carry out their proposals. They do get money from the sociology department, but if you’re doing a wide-scale project, you can use this money for that, too. Or if it’s just something you’re doing on the side, or if you’re in a student organization that does research, you can use this.”

Students can apply for the Richard Frank Grant on OrgSync under the treasury section of the SGA portal.