The Joseph F. Mulligan Award in Physics

Joseph Mulligan_001The Joseph F. Mulligan Award in Physics is an award based on a gift by Eleanor Mulligan in memory of her husband, Dr. Joseph F. Mulligan, one of the founders of the UMBC Department of Physics.

Eligibility & General Overview

Anybody with a connection to the UMBC Physics Department with an interest in the history of science are invited to apply for this award. The award is up to $1250 to a single student (graduate or undergraduate), or physics post-doc/faculty member (connected to the UMBC Physics Dept), who is interested in researching some topic in the history of physics, and presenting their results in the form of an oral presentation, to be known as the “Mulligan Memorial Lecture.”  The lecture is presented near the end of the spring semester of the year following the announcement of the award.

Specific Application Requirements

Applicants are required to submit a complete application by email to the Physics Department Chair, Dr. Matthew Pelton.  At the current time such an application consists of

    • [Students only] Finding a UMBC Faculty-member to support your application.
    • Submitting a full written proposal (at least 12pt; not to exceed 3 pages) to the Physics Department Chair that includes:
      1. TITLE, NAME, and DATE
      2. STATEMENT OF SPECIFIC AIMS, PURPOSE, OR GOALS
        A concise, but complete description of the topic you plan to study and on which you will make a presentation. Topics could be biographical sketches of one or more historically important physicists, a review of the historical development of a physical theory or experiment, or an evaluation of the social impact of some development in physics. Topics of local or personal relevance and investigations based on primary sources are preferred to general reviews on well-documented subjects.
      3. MOTIVATION
        Explain your particular interest in the topic, why you consider it important, and the audience to which your presentation will be aimed
      4. METHODS
        Explain how you intend to carry out your research, citing sources upon which you wish to draw. If you envision a presentation other than a lecture with audio/visual aids, indicate this here.
      5. BUDGET
        Explain how the award money will be used. Will this be used to procure materials for the research, to fund travel or expenses related to the presentation, or to provide living expenses? (The latter is an acceptable use of the award.)
      6. ROLE OF THE FACULTY MENTOR/ADVISOR
        Explain how you will interact with a faculty mentor on this project, and how you will demonstrate interim progress on your project.