CURS Grant Call For Proposals

Materials and Travel Grant Proposals

The Center for Undergraduate Research & Scholarship (CURS) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for grants supporting student-faculty research sponsored by the Provost and the Vice Provost for Instruction. CURS Materials and Travel grants are open twice per year (Fall/Spring) and support original scholarly work through faculty-mentored student research. Funding each term depends on the number of applicants, available funds, and feasibility of the proposed research or scholarship. Each proposal will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary advisory committee and evaluated on its contributions to undergraduate student development and the research mission of 麻豆官网首页入口. Grant requests can be made for travel to conduct or present research, or to purchase materials and supplies. Funding is competitive; see the CURS website for full details and tips for successful proposals.

 

Parameters

Deadlines:

Fall grants: August 31 by midnight

Spring grants: January 31 by midnight

Maximum Request:

$1,000 per individual proposal per person

Unallowable expenses include publication fees, membership dues, personnel (stipends, consulting fees, technicians, etc.), participation incentives, and core facility charges.

Faculty & Student Applications

Important Information for Faculty Mentors

  • Faculty may submit proposals for Materials or Travel requests, but may not submit more than one proposal per round. For travel funding, faculty must be traveling with a student to collect data or present scholarly work.
  • Faculty are required to submit a mentorship philosophy. Your mentoring philosophy explains how you approach mentoring relationships and should serve as the guide for your mentorship experience. Please see from Indiana University.
  • Faculty research projects must be submitted to the by August 31st /January 31st to be reviewed for CURS funding.
  • AU expects responsible financial stewardship.

 

Important Information for Students

  • Students may submit proposals for Travel requests (no Materials requests) and may not submit more than one proposal per round. The student is expected to write this proposal. Faculty may provide feedback or guidance but should not write the proposal . Proposals copied from published abstracts or that are obviously written by faculty will be rejected. Student projects must have a faculty advisor or mentor to be considered for funding.
  • Cost Sharing: If two or more people are traveling to the same location to present or conduct research each person will submit their own grant proposal . Any shared expenses such as lodging should be clearly explained in the Budget Justification narrative of the application. Each person should submit their Travel Authorization Form which states all travel costs. Additionally, applicants should submit the CURS travel budget sheet where applicants will indicate what costs are being shared (e.g., Uber, hotel costs). Only one person may be reimbursed for a given receipt, thus reimbursing among travelers for shared expenses is the responsibility of the travelers.
  • AU expects responsible financial stewardship.

 

Record of Undergraduate Research Participation

Undergraduate(s) must be enrolled in an undergraduate research course within the home department, CURS, or the Honors Program in order to be reviewed for CURS funding. These courses are denoted by the number 2990, 3990 or 4990, or HONR 2999H, 3900H, 3999H, 4000H. CURS abides the add/drop deadline set forth by the Registrar鈥檚 Office. Students need to complete the to be registered for a CURS course.

 

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS:

The proposal will be submitted through Microsoft Forms. CURS highly recommends that you work in a Word document first and transfer your answers to Forms when you are ready to submit. Applicants can review the evaluation rubric and tips for grant preparation on the CURS website. Read Carefully and follow the instructions; failure to follow instructions may result in your proposal being rejected automatically.

Supporting Documents. The following supporting documents are required as part of the application.

  • Mentoring Philosophy (Faculty only)
  • Student List
  • AU Travel Authorization Form (Travel only)
  • CURS Travel Budget Sheet (Travel only)
  • Abstract (Travel only)
  • CURS Materials Budget Sheet (Materials only)

Travel Grant Proposals. The following sections are required within the proposal form:

  1. Research Project Title (10 word max; Capitalize Each Word)
  2. Research Project Description (300 - 500 words). Provide a clearly written description of the research or scholarly work. - What is the big picture of the research? What is being learned? Why? Give a simple description of the methods and tasks being conducted. For travel, be sure to include the destination and importance of the travel. - What will you get out of this travel? - What will the students get out of this travel? - What makes this travel important for AU? Write for an interdisciplinary audience and carefully review the evaluation rubric.
  3. Significance of Contribution (300 - 400 words): Describe the significance and value of the research or scholarly work. It is appropriate to discuss the value to the field, humanity, knowledge and/or education. It is incumbent upon the applicant to articulate the importance to reviewers, regardless of their disciplinary background.
  4. Mentoring Philosophy (Faculty only). Your mentoring philosophy is an integral part of this application. Please see Faculty Resources on the CURS website for guidance. Be sure to address mentorship before, during, after the travel. Upload separately.
  5. Start and End Date of Travel Research Activity. Please note that funds MUST be dispensed in the semester requested; if you are traveling in the spring but requesting funds in the fall, please wait until the spring to submit your proposal.
  6. Abstract (Conference proposals only)
  7. Status of conference submission. Choose the status of conference submission and acceptance (if not relevant, answer n/a).
  8. Start and End Date of Travel Research Activity. Please note that funds MUST be dispensed in the semester requested; if you are traveling in the spring but requesting funds in the fall, please wait until the spring to submit your proposal. Travel documents and receipts must be submitted to CURS within 30 days after the travel occurs. For guidance about travel toward the end of a semester or during the summer, please speak with the CURS Coordinator.
  9. Total Funding Request from CURS (max $1,000).
  10. Travel Authorization Form: Complete an 麻豆官网首页入口 Travel Authorization Form and upload into the application. AU Travel information and Single Day and multi-day forms can be found . Please note that signatures are not required on travel authorizations to apply for a CURS grant.
  11. CURS Itemized Travel Budget Sheet: Complete a CURS Travel Budget Sheet and upload into the application. For each item, include the total cost required for the expense and count of each item. The total cost per item will be added for you. Enter the amount of the total cost requested from CURS. For shared items such as hotels, see the budget narrative section below for how to describe the shared expenses. showing costs that are not included in this proposal. Indicate other sources of funding such as student organization or departmental funds.
  12. Budget Justification Narrative: Clearly articulate the importance and use of the funding in regard to the research. If the travel expenses can be modified to reduce costs (e.g., in the case we cannot fund a full proposal), please describe or communicate your priorities. On the budget sheet you will be asked the total cost of each itemized expense as well as what portion you are requesting from CURS. If a fellow traveler will pay the initial bill for the hotel and you will pay the initial bill for the car rental, then your requested amount for the lodging is 0 and your requested amount for the car is the total expense for the car.

 

Materials Grant Proposals. Faculty Only. The following sections are required within the proposal form:

  1. Research Project Title (10 word max; Capitalize Each Word)
  2. Research Project Description (300 -500 words): Provide a clearly written description of the research or scholarly work. - What is the big picture of the research? What is being learned? Why? Give a simple description of the methods and tasks being conducted.  Write for an interdisciplinary audience and carefully review the evaluation rubric. Your project must be submitted to the by August 31st /January 31st or your proposal will not be reviewed.
  3. Significance of Contribution (300 - 400 words): Describe the significance and value of the research or scholarly work. It is appropriate to discuss the value to the field, humanity, knowledge and/or education. It is incumbent upon the applicant to articulate the importance to reviewers, regardless of their disciplinary background.
  4. Mentoring Philosophy (Faculty only). Your mentoring philosophy is an integral part of this application. Please see Faculty Resources on the CURS website for guidance. Be sure to address mentorship before, during, after the travel.
  5. Total Funding Request from CURS (max $1,000). Please note that funds must be expensed by the fiscal year deadlines and follow all AU purchasing policies.Ensure that the amount requested on the Budget Sheet matches the amount requested in the application.
  6. CURS Itemized Materials Budget Sheet: Complete and upload the CURS Materials Grant Budget Sheet.
  7. Budget Justification Narrative: Clearly articulate the importance and use of the funding in regard to the research. Multiples of the same product (e.g., paint brushes, pipets) may be listed as one item. Budgets without itemization will not be reviewed. If the research can be conducted with only some of the materials (e.g., in the case we cannot fund a full proposal), please describe or communicate your priorities.
  8. Plans for Dissemination: Describe your plans for scholarly dissemination with your undergraduate student.

Grant Evaluation Rubric