Thanks for your interest in the Discovery Scholars Program. Here is a step-by-step guide on how the program works.

Step One: Indicating Your Intention to be a Discovery Scholar
In order to be designated a USC Discovery Scholar candidate, you must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program. The first thing you need to do is complete an on-line application for certification. This application indicates your intention to submit a set of materials that meet the certification criteria for your school. To see the criteria for your school, proceed to this page. Note that you are not required to submit materials at the time you complete the application.

This year’s deadline for completing the online application is Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

Step Two: Submitting Materials for Certification by Your School
Since USC offers a diverse array of undergraduate majors, encompassing the humanities, sciences, arts, and professions, the criteria for earning the Discovery Scholar designation differ by discipline. Your work will be certified by a panel of experts within your own school.

In some cases the work done to earn the designation may be a senior honors thesis, design project, or other capstone activity. Such projects are generally completed late in the senior year, and for this reason the deadlines for submission of materials have been set up to be as flexible as possible.

If you would like your work to be considered for the Discovery Scholar Prize, it is necessary that you submit materials to the Dean’s Office within your school by 5 PM on Monday, March 24, 2008. Depending on the nature of your work and the policies of your school, it may only be necessary to make a preliminary submission by this date. Check the criteria for your school to see whether a preliminary submission is allowed.

Based on the submissions received by March 24, your school will nominate a short-list of Prize Finalists to advance to the university-wide competition. The deadline for schools to submit their short-lists to the Office of Undergraduate Programs is 5 PM on Friday, April 4, 2008. It is a significant honor to be recognized as a Prize Finalist – this indicates that your research or creative work is among the most distinguished submissions by any student in your school.

If you are named a Prize Finalist, your work will be evaluated by a faculty panel drawn from across the University. Prize Finalists must submit their materials in a completed form, ready for evaluation, to the Office of Undergraduate Programs by 5 PM on Friday, April 25, 2008. The faculty panel will select Prize Awardees in time for an announcement at commencement, which takes place this year on Friday, May 16.

If you are not named a Prize Finalist, your materials can be submitted for certification to the Dean’s Office within your school at any time before the end of your final semester. Note that in order to earn the Discovery Scholar designation you must also graduate in no more than five years at USC, and your overall grade point average must be at least 3.5.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the Office of Undergraduate Programs at (213) 740-1741 or contact us by e-mail. Good luck!