Undergraduate Awards

The Rick Riolo Undergraduate Research Prize

The Rick Riolo Undergraduate Research Prize is awarded for two outstanding research projects in the field of complex systems. First prize is $1000 and second prize is awarded $500. All current UM undergraduates are eligible and can self nominate [with faculty sponsor signature] or be nominated by any member of the CSCS community. The project can be a senior thesis, a research paper, a conference paper or poster, a class project, a UROP project, an empirical analysis, or the development of a computational or mathematical model.   

The breadth of criteria aligns with the intellectual openness of Rick Riolo. An expert in evolutionary modeling and genetic programming, Rick authored more than 80 papers in a variety of fields using a range of computational and analytic techniques.

Rick also spent decades teaching complex systems theory and the craft and science of agent-based modeling.  Rick was among the most visible and influential researchers, mentors, and instructors in the interdisciplinary field of complex adaptive systems. Rick made time for everyone and encouraged exploratory research.

Rick’s many friends, colleagues, and students have endowed this prize in his honor with the hope that it will encourage students to ask deep questions, experiment with new tools and methodologies, and be guided by a desire for understanding absent disciplinary constraints.

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Award Criteria: recipients must be undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Michigan. 

Award Amount: First Prize: $1,000; Second Prize: $500

Number Awarded: Two awards per year to individuals or a groups

Types of Submissions: Senior thesis, research paper, conference paper or poster, class project, UROP project, empirical analysis, or the development of a computational or mathematical model. Include the date and title of the work.

Applications have closed for 2024 and will open again during the beginning of the Fall 2025 semester.