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Winter Closure

Multiple Danforth campus libraries will be closed and inaccessible to patrons from December 21 until January 2. Read on for more details. 

Sato Research Award

A photo of a handwritten piece within the collection being studied.

The Mendel Sato Research Award is designed to attract outstanding original research projects from courses taught in departments throughout WashU’s Danforth Campus. These projects must draw from research conducted with collections in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections.

The Julian Edison Department of Special Collections is interested in a broad scope of projects and methods that draw from research conducted with the collections and can range from film to book arts and beyond. Projects can be in any medium, from written papers to multimedia projects. We encourage bold applications of research that help us understand our holdings in innovative ways. 

Award Details 

  • Each winning student will receive a prize of $500. Awards are subject to taxes. 
  •  Winning projects and essays will be preserved in the WashU Libraries’ Open Scholarship Institutional Repository with access open to the public.
  • The WashU Libraries will display the names of students and faculty mentors who submitted winning submissions. The names will be published on the Libraries website and in promotional printed materials. 

Eligible Students 

Any WashU student at any class level in any discipline who has completed a research project in any format using materials from Special Collections for a credit course during the summer 2024, fall 2024, or spring 2025 semesters is eligible to participate in the 2024-2025 competition. Only one project per course may be submitted. A group project can be submitted for the competition; if a group project is selected, the prize money will be divided evenly between the project participants.

Application Process 

Apply for the Mendel Sato Research Award via the Sato Award Application Form.

Key Dates

  • Submission Deadline: May 16, 2025, at 5:00 pm for projects completed in courses during the academic year
  • Winner Notification: June 13, 2025

Judging

As summarized in the research project description, a judging panel composed of Libraries staff and WashU faculty will evaluate entries based on each applicant’s research strategy and personal learning. 

Contact Us

Questions? Please do not hesitate to contact Special Collections (spec@wumail.wustl.edu) with any questions about the Mendel Sato Research Award.

About Dr. Sato

A generous endowment established by Dr. Mendel Sato provides the vision and funding for this program. Dr. Sato hopes “to help awardees do well for themselves and enable them to do good for others.”

Sato received an undergraduate degree in biology from WashU in 1976 and a doctoral degree in dental medicine from WashU in 1979. Today, Dr. Sato and his wife, Sharon, live in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he operates a dental practice alongside his two sons. Inspired by his days as a student at WashU, where he learned by collaborating with faculty members, Sato created an endowment to provide ongoing funding that encourages student exploration into the Libraries’ archives. Forty years after leaving WashU, Sato is helping today’s students have the same powerful learning experience he had. 

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