Student Project Awards - Fall, Spring, and Summer

 

2022 Fall Project Awards are now closed

 

2022-2023  Application Schedule

  • April18

    2022 Fall Projects Award

    Funds undergraduate research projects during fall  2022. Up to $3,000 for individuals, and $6,000 for groups of 2 or more.
    Deadline to apply was June 12, 2022.  

     

    CLOSED

  • Oct 3

    2023 Spring Projects Award

    Funds undergraduate research projects during spring 2023. Up to $3,000 for individuals, and $6,000.
    Apply between October 3 and November 6, 2022.


    Coming soon

  • Jan17

    2023 Summer Projects Award

    Funds undergraduate research projects during summer 2023. Up to $6,000 in funding for individuals and groups.
    Apply between January 17 and  February 26, 2023.

     

    Coming soon


 

general information


​URSA offers undergraduates three opportunities:

Fall Project Award

  • Up to $3,000 for an individual
  • Up $6,000 for a group of two or more students

Spring Project Award

  • Up to $3,000 for an individual
  • Up $6,000 for a group of two or more students

Summer Project Award

  • Up to $6,000 for an individual
  • Up $6,000 for a group of two or more students

The funds may be used to cover the following items:
  • Fellowship (student stipend)
  • Tuition for research courses related to the project (4 credits max)
  • Travel for conducting field work - pending on COVID-19 restrictions
  • Supplies and/or services.

Examples of items NOT covered:
  • Travel to attend a conference is NOT eligible for funding through a Student Project Award
    Student wishing to PRESENT, COMPETE, PERFORM at an event must submit a Travel Award application.
  • Any items that will not remain a property of UAF (personal items, clothes, etc).
 
 
  • Must be a Degree-seeking undergraduate student (Associate's Degree or Bachelor's Degree)
    From any discipline, any year of study, any UAF campus.

  • Fall and Spring Awards: Student must be enrolled in at least 6 credits at any UAF campus for the funded semester.

  • Summer Awards: Student must be enrolled for at least 6 credits during the spring semester and planning to enroll in at least 6 credits for fall semester.

  • GPA of 2.3 or higher
    Students on probation are not eligible.

  • Must have a mentor and an idea
    Faculty, post-doc, or a graduate student, as well as an established project. 

  • Students may only apply for one award each round

  • Students are eligible to receive one Student Project Award (or be funded under a Mentor Award) per academic year (Fall to Summer semester), and one travel award (fall, winter or spring).
    This policy allows for a greater number of students to receive awards with limited URSA funds.
  • Students with a GPA lower than 2.3

  • Students registered for less than 6 credits the semester of the award.

  • Any student that has already received a Student/Mentor award that academic year.
  • Students that have graduated, unless they are enrolled in a second degree program.

  • Students that have received full funding from another UAF program for the project are not eligible for additional funding from URSA (for example BLaST, INBRE, EPSCOR, Alaska Space Grant Program, amongst others)
  • Student must deliver the following materials upon the completion of the award:
    •  A poster of their project.
      (For other types of displays or performances, please contact URSA).
    • A recording of a 2-3 min presentation over the poster
    • A 2-3min Outreach Video
    • 2-3 high resolution pictures

IMPORTANT: Failure to provide the above, to submit a final evaluation, or to participate in Research & Creative Activity Day will make the student ineligible to future URSA funding.

For any given round of URSA funding, 25–70 proposals are submitted.
With limited funding we award between 8 and 12 proposals in each call. The competition is high.

  1. Once all the proposals are received, each are distributed anonymously and randomly to four members of the URSA Review Board. These faculty members come from all disciplines in the arts/humanities/social sciences and natural/life and engineering sciences.

    One of the reasons that we request that students write their proposal for a broad audience is because there is a high probability that several of their reviewers will not be in the same discipline as the proposal.

  2. The reviewers score the proposals using our rubric and they also provide written comments.

  3. We fund those proposals, in ranked order, until our allotted amount of funding is no longer available.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluations are made by a minimum of four faculty members on the URSA Review Board using the scoring criteria detailed below.

Each of the following are evaluated on a scale from 1 (high/exemplary) to 5 (low/insufficient):

  • The purpose of the student's proposed project/travel

1. to conduct or present a research/creative project (projects) OR to present a research/creative project (travel)
2. to compete in a scholarly activity
3. to participate in an internship/immersion
4. to attend a workshop or acquire training that will facilitate a project
5. not clearly expressed

  • The explanation of the significance of the proposed project/travel
  • The explanation of the proposed project or travel's contribution to a scholarly discipline is
  • The potential for the proposed project or travel to effect student learning or scholarly development is
  • The written quality of the proposal is
  • The feasibility of the proposed project or travel seems
  • The articulated goals and/or expected outcomes of the project or travel seem
  • Through articulate writing and inclusion of details, the student's case for funding appears
  • The faculty mentor's role and/or participation in the project or travel is

 Proposals are also evaluated based on:

  • Written quality of the proposal—write for a general audience
  • Budget form attached
  • Purpose of the project or travel with respect to potential for academic/research development for the student
  • Potential for student learning and development as a result of the project or travel
  • Adequate faculty involvement in the project or travel
  • Emailed acknowledgement of support by the mentor to URSA by the application deadline