The Richard Frank Grant gives students of all majors a chance to pursue projects in any field. Each semester, $10,000 is offered to students who have a project that uses Jesuit ideals while furthering their education.

There are two applications that need to be filled out: a description of the project and a summary of the costs. Both of these packets can be found online at the SGA Web site and are due Feb. 23. Informational meetings on the grant were held Feb. 8, 9 and 10.

SGA senator at large and history junior Garrett Fontenot is a member of the committee that oversees the grant. He explained that the grant is only given to applicants who are very serious about their projects.

“The way it works is we look first at the qualitative description without looking at any of the money issues and we rate them based on the effects that the research will have, how in depth the research is, how descriptive the details are, what looks better planned and basically just the overall quality of the project,” Fontenot said. “We give each project a ranking and then we’ll look at the money.”

They give the top ranked project as much money as they can and then distribute the rest according to rank.

According to Fontenot, the idea of a grant is typically associated with the sciences, but that is not true for the Richard Frank Grant.

“We’re trying to encourage a lot of people to apply from a lot of diverse areas,” Fontenot said.

Gabriella Estrada, biology senior, received $4,825 in grant money this semester to buy new supplies for a project she is working on involving Chagas disease. Estrada applied a year earlier and did not receive funding. To improve her application for a second try, she focused more on the details and the importance of the project to Loyola and the New Orleans area.

“I think that it’s really important that you come prepared and know everything about your project. Last time I didn’t know everything, but this time I was really engaged and could explain everything,” she said.

Estrada said that receiving the grant has allowed her to order whatever she needs for her research and has made her deadline to finish in February a possibility.

Sam Winstrom can be reached at [email protected]