Purpose
Anat Kimchi was a doctoral candidate in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. In Anat’s doctoral and master’s work, she studied a substantial and largely overlooked contributing factor to the mass incarceration of non-violent people: the population of individuals who entered prison after having their community supervision sentences revoked. Her quantitative analyses revealed significant heterogeneity in the severity of parole requirements for offenders of different races and ethnicities, affecting the feasibility of compliance and potentially setting some parolees up to fail. Anat was murdered in a random sidewalk attack on June 19, 2021, and she was awarded her Ph.D. a few weeks after her death. Prior to her doctoral studies, which were completed under the prestigious UMD Flagship Fellowship, Anat double-majored in Psychology and Criminology & Criminal Justice, graduating magna cum laude from the University of Maryland. In both her personal and academic endeavors, she cared deeply about making a difference in the lives of those who needed support.
In memory of the life and accomplishments of Dr. Anat Kimchi, the Kimchi Memorial Graduate Travel Award will include two $540 travel stipends for expenses related to professional conference travel to the American Society of Criminology (ASC) annual meetings.
Award Eligibility
To be eligible, students must have completed their master’s degrees and be working towards their doctoral degree in criminal justice or a related discipline. Preference will be given to students who have completed all required coursework and have advanced to candidacy. Applicants must have an accepted presentation and plan to travel to ASC to present their research.
The award is aimed specifically at students who plan to present quantitative, data-driven research regarding racial inequality, recidivism, social justice, or the study of formal institutions of social control. The Kimchi Memorial Graduate Travel Award Committee is composed of a chair, two members of the Division on Corrections and Sentencing, and the family of Dr. Anat Kimchi.
Awardees will be formally recognized at the Division on Corrections and Sentencing breakfast meeting to be held on Thursday November 17, 2022.
Proposal Structure
To be considered for a Kimchi Memorial Graduate Travel Award, applicants must submit their written application to the Kimchi Award Committee by the due date listed in the annual award announcement.
Applicants must provide a summary of the proposed project they plan to present at the conference, including a discussion of the importance of the planned activity and its impact on policy and practice. Proposals must include: a description of the research problem and a detailed description of the methodology and dataset. Successful applications will describe how the proposed project fits into the broader substantive research areas defined below under suggested proposal content. Applications should not exceed 600 words. The applicant’s CV must be attached along with the completed application.
Suggested Proposal Content
Key criteria that link back to the proposal structure include:
- Scholarly Potential
- Novelty and importance of the research topic under study
- Connection to relevant extant literature
- Potential to make meaningful contributions to the discipline
- Substantive Relevance of Proposed Topics
- Preference given to proposals related to:
- Racial and/or social justice
- Probation, community sanctions, and parole
- Prosecution, sentencing, or imprisonment
- Preference given to proposals related to:
- Data and Methods
- Projects must involve quantitative data analysis
- Preference given to projects that integrate multiple data sources and carefully describe how the integration will be carried out
- Use rigorous analytical approaches
- Justice Policy and Translational Criminology
- Extent to which research might impact policy
- Potential to enact meaningful change in criminal justice system
- Efforts directly related to translational criminology
- Overall Quality and Development of the Proposal
Application Timeline
Completed proposals must be submitted to Shelley Johnson at slistwan@uncc.edu with the Subject Line: Kimchi Graduate Travel Award, no later than August 31, 2023. The Committee anticipates being able to make final award announcements by early October 2022.