About the UT-Arlington ADS Public Interest Awards

Beginning in academic year 2009-2010, the Academy of Distinguished Scholars (ADS) at the University of Texas at Arlington will sponsor an annual competition for the best potential applications of science / scholarship in the public interest.

This competition is open to eligible graduate students who are currently enrolled in a Texas institution of higher education ( Review Eligibility Criteria ). All eligible students are invited to submit a single proposal (word length limit of 800 words) by the November 15, 2009 deadline. A panel of ADS members and invited experts will conduct an initial blind review of these proposals, evaluating them on the criteria of (1) their potential positive impact on society, (2) their creativity, (3) their viability / potential for implementation, and (4) their cost-effectiveness. From the group of highest-rated proposals, the panel will select the top ten and invite the candidates who wrote them to prepare more expanded (10-page) versions for final review by the members of the UTA Academy of Distinguished Scholars.

The final review will result in the selection of three applicants to receive UT-Arlington ADS Public Interest Awards. There will be a primary award in the amount of $5,000 and two honorable mention awards in the amount of $2,500 each. Each award will be bestowed, along with a commemorative plaque, at an award ceremony to be held on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington in the spring of each academic year.

With the written consent of the award finalists, their proposed applications of research and knowledge in the public interest will be forwarded by the UT-Arlington Media Relations Office to current legislative office-holders in the State of Texas. The letter each legislator receives will explain that the forwarded proposals have been competitively evaluated and deemed worthy of their consideration as ideas that might be worthy of implementation at the legislative / policy level to benefit the public interest. In other words, these proposals provide a means for some of the best ideas emanating from graduate students in the university community to be brought to the attention of the people who formulate public policy for the people of the State of Texas. Whether, and how, the members of the Texas legislature choose to act on these ideas is completely up to them.