Program Description

The LDC Data Scholarship program provides university students with access to LDC data at no-cost. Each year LDC distributes thousands of dollars worth of data at no or reduced cost to students who demonstrate need for data yet cannot secure funding. LDC members and data users have subsidized these data distributions through their support of the Consortium. The LDC Data Scholarship program formalizes this practice.

Data scholarships are offered twice a year to correspond to the Fall and Spring semesters, beginning with the Fall 2010 semester (September - December 2010). Several students can be awarded scholarships during each program cycle. Students will need to complete an application, information for which is provided below. We anticipate that the selection process will be highly competitive.



Applicant Eligibility Requirements

This program is open to students pursuing both undergraduate and graduate studies in an accredited college or university. LDC Data Scholarships are not restricted to any particular field of study, however, students must demonstrate a well-developed research agenda and a bona fide inability to pay.

Application Process

The application consists of two parts:

(1) Data Use Proposal. Applicants must submit a proposal describing their intended use of the data. The proposal must contain the applicant's name, university, and field of study. The proposal should state which data the student plans to use and contain a description of their research project.

Students are advised to consult the LDC Corpus Catalog for a complete list of data distributed by LDC. Due to certain restrictions, a handful of LDC corpora are restricted to members of the Consortium.

Proposals should be a maximum of two pages, 12 pt font, double-spaced.

(2) Letter of Support. Applicants must submit one letter of support from their thesis advisor or department chair. The letter must verify the student's need for data and confirm that the department or university lacks the funding to pay the full Non-member Fee for the data.

The letter of support should:

* describe student: student name, university name, field of study, etc. The letter should elaborate on the type and duration of relationship with the student.
* describe research: LDC data to be used as well as a description of the student's research. The letter should evaluate the probability of success of the student's research.
* describe need: elaborate on funding situation of department and comment on the lack of funds.


LDC Data Scholarship winners will be notified by email and will be announced publicly. Awardees will be asked to sign an additional user license agreement(s) which governs use of LDC data.

Students can email their applications to the LDC Data Scholarship program at datascholarships@ldc.upenn.edu . Decisions will be sent by email from the same address.


Important Dates

For the Fall 2010 semester:

* Submission Deadline: September 15, 2010.

* Winner Notification: rolling, but no later than October 15, 2010.

Please address any inquiries to datascholarships@ldc.upenn.edu