Undergraduate Research Scholarship and Creative Activities (U-RSCA) Training Grants
The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) provides funding to undergraduate researchers to support their training in research, scholarship, and creative activities (RSCA). Funding will be awarded to undergraduate researchers (up to $1500) and their mentors ($500). Applications will be accepted three times each academic year on July 15, October 15, and February 15. If these dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the deadline will be the following business day. These application deadlines reflect the disbursement of funds in the Fall, Spring, and Summer A semesters, respectively.
Grant proposals are reviewed by a panel from a variety of departments. Applicants should ensure that proposals can be understood by an educated non-expert.
Fall applications are due Tuesday, October 15 by 11:59 PM. Please note that this funding would be disbursed during the Spring 2025 semester, not Fall 2024.
Eligibility
There is no GPA requirement for funding, but students must be enrolled at 九色视频 during the semester in which the funding will be awarded and must be in good academic standing.
All applicants must have a 九色视频 faculty mentor to receive funding. It is suggested that applicants work with their faculty mentor when preparing the U-RSCA application.
Applications will be accepted from individual undergraduate researchers or groups of no more than three undergraduate researchers. The total funding amount remains the same regardless of the number of students on the application.
Students are eligible to receive two U-RSCA grants during their undergraduate career, including both individual and group applications.
More than one application from students working with the same faculty mentor can be submitted at each application deadline; however, a maximum of one application will be awarded per faculty mentor in each application cycle period (there are three cycles per academic year – July, October, and February).
Requirements
Projects that require oversight of compliance must be addressed as such and grant funds cannot be released until all research compliance issues are satisfied. Please keep in mind that research compliance issues may take several weeks to be resolved and must be resolved within one month of notification of selection for funding. It is recommended that the process of obtaining research compliance is initiated prior to submitting a U-RSCA training grant application.
Funds awarded will be dispersed to the home department.
Students awarded a U-RSCA training grant will be required to sign an acceptance letter prior to disbursement of the funds to their home department.
Students awarded a U-RSCA training grant must submit a progress report by the deadline designated on the acceptance letter and must present their data at an OUR-sponsored on-campus symposium (U-GLIDE, SOARS, or ARISE).
Guidelines
Each application includes several sections: Title, Summary, Significance, Proposal, Literature Cited, Roles of student(s) and mentor, Timeline, Budget, and the Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation. It is important to prepare the sections before beginning the application process. All sections must be uploaded as a word or pdf file. After submission, the faculty mentor will be contacted to submit the Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation. All application materials must be received by the application deadline.
Summary – 200 word maximum - Provide a summary of the proposed project. The summary should be clear and concise and should be written in language that is understood by reviewers from other disciplines. It should “sell” your proposal to the reviewers.
Significance – 200 word maximum - Indicate how the training to be received through the project benefits the academic development of the student(s) and/or the ability to achieve the career goals of the student(s).
Proposal – 2000 word maximum – Provide a brief literature review, the research question or problem, the proposed methodology, and the anticipated products or outcomes. Include pertinent references or citations in the style utilized by your academic discipline (APA, MLA, Chicago).
Literature cited - Include the references or citations used in the proposal in the style utilized by your academic discipline.
Roles of student(s) and mentor – 500 word maximum - Provide information regarding the responsibilities of each student and the mentor. How will the mentor contribute to the RSCA training described within the proposal? What does the student expect to gain from this experience?
Timeline – Provide details of the timeline for implementing the various steps of the project. This can be provided as a graphic or in paragraph form.
Budget – Provide an itemized budget for the proposed project. Consult the Budget Guidelines before submitting the budget section of the proposal.
Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation – Provide comments on the feasibility of the project; the initiative, tenacity, and abilities of the student(s); your previous experience working with students on RSCA and willingness to provide oversight of the project. The letter should be signed and dated. Department letterhead is preferred. Upon submission of the student portion of the application, including the email address of the faculty mentor, the mentor will receive an email request with a link for submitting the letter.
Budget Guidelines
Grant funds awarded to students can be applied to tangible research expenditures or awarded directly to the student via appropriate funding methods within the home department. Applicants should discuss research needs with their faculty mentor before submission of their proposed budget.
Examples of allowable expenses:
- Costs for laboratory or artistic supplies, software and databases, and small equipment. (note that all equipment remains the property of 九色视频).
- Costs for training programs directly related to the project.
- Travel to offsite locations to conduct research, such as archives, libraries, companies, museums, or collections containing materials related to the project. All travel should be documented through Workday.
- Photocopying of research-related materials of purchase of books not available at or through the University Library.
- Program fee costs associated with a research-intensive study abroad program to include materials and supplies needed to conduct the research abroad.
- Payment to students via financial aid or as a direct pay to compensate for time spent conducting RSCA activities.
Examples of non-allowable expenses include, but are not limited to:
- Costs associated with attendance or presentations at professional meetings. Please apply for a conference presentation travel award for this.
- Activities and products not appropriate for purchase using E&G funding.
Review Procedures
Grant proposals are reviewed by a panel from a variety of departments. Applicants should ensure that proposals can be understood by an educated non-expert. Proposals will be evaluated using a rubric. Evaluators will discuss the proposals and make their recommendations for funding. The Office of Undergraduate Research will then make the final selections. Feedback will be provided to students whose proposals are not selected for funding.
Review Item |
Score of 5 |
Score of 3 |
Score of 1 |
---|---|---|---|
Research Question or Problem |
The question/ problem is clearly stated and the significance to the field is demonstrated. |
The question/ problem is stated and the significance to the field is implied. |
The question/ problem is not stated and/or the significance to the field is not addressed. |
Methodology |
The methodology is written in a manner that is explicitly understood by reviewers from any discipline. |
The methodology is written in a manner that is vaguely understood by reviewers from any discipline. |
The methodology uses jargon and/or technical language that is not understood by the reviewers. |
Roles of Participants |
The roles of the student(s) and mentor are explicitly outlined. |
The roles of the student(s) and mentor are adequately outlined. |
The roles of the student(s) and mentor are poorly outlined. |
Timeline/ Budget |
Explicit and compelling reasons are provided to believe the project will be successfully completed on budget in the time frame. |
Weak reason(s) are provided to believe that the project will be successfully completed on budget in the time frame. |
No reasons are provided to believe the project will be successfully completed on budget and in the time frame. |
Faculty Support |
The project and student(s) are strongly supported |
The project and student(s) are adequately supported. |
The project and student(s) are weakly supported. |