Undergraduate Research & Creativity Grants
Grants are available on a competitive basis to support
undergraduate and international undergraduate research and
creativity activities to all full-time (12+ credits) and
part-time (1-11 credits) UW-L undergraduates. Two competitions
are held each year—one during spring semester and one during
fall semester. Projects within the US can be funded for up to
$1,500 when one student is involved and up to $1,650 when there
are two or more students. Projects involving international
travel can be funded for up to $3,000. Collaborative projects
involving two or more students are allowed for both domestic and
international projects; students must determine how their
stipends would be split.
Undergraduate Research Grants:
| Award Amounts | Domestic applicants may request a maximum of $1,500 including a $600 stipend for individual projects or up to $1,650 including a $950 stipend for projects with two or more student investigator's. International applicants may request up to $3,000 for projects with one student investigator; includes stipend of up to $600. International projects with two or more student investigators may request a stipend of up to $950. |
| Spending Deadlines | All funding must be expended by one year after the award date. |
| Submission Guidelines | Students must request to be enrolled in the URCC's D2L course by Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at 4pm. You may request enrollment by emailing stdtresearch@uwlax.edu . Students who attend the Grant Writing Workshop will be automatically enrolled. Students must submit their grants in a single PDF or word document via the D2L drop box by Wednesday, October 17th, 2012 at 4pm to be considered. |
| Notification of Award | The Office of Undergraduate Research
& Creativity will notify award
recipients, typically within 6 weeks of grant submission.
|
| Signatures | PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DEADLINE DATE TO ACQUIRE REQUIRED
SIGNATURES! Departments and colleges have deadlines for turning
in proposals to get the necessary signatures. Please find these
out and plan accordingly. |
| Eligibility | UW-L full or part-time students who are not graduating during
the semester in which they are applying for grant funds. |
| Restrictions | Funding will not be available for any work already completed,
for travel to present research findings at conferences or for
publication printing fees. |
If funded, students are required to:
1.Complete a verification of travel form upon purchasing flight
ticket to get the rest of your travel funds.
Adobe PDF version
MS Word version (if applicable).
2.Present the results of their work at the annual
UW-L Celebration
of Student Research & Creativity, held in
the spring semester. RECEIVING A GRANT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY
REGISTER YOU FOR THE CELEBRATION. You must submit an abstract;
the call for abstracts usually begins in the spring semester and
will be announced.
3.Submit a
FINAL REPORT to the Office of Undergraduate Research &
Creativity.
4.In addition, certain award recipients may be asked to sit on
the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee during the following year
to assist in the review of new student grant applications.
I. INTRODUCTION
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is pleased to provide
funding on a competitive basis to support meaningful,
campus-wide, undergraduate research and creativity activities.
Students should carefully read the information that follows and
submit proposals that adhere to these guidelines.
The Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee equally welcomes single- or
multiple-discipline proposals. This Committee recognizes that
different disciplines call for different methods of inquiry.
Methodologies used in the physical and social sciences will
likely be different from those of the arts and humanities.
Nonetheless, all proposals will need to meet certain general
criteria. Ideally, research projects will result in some form of
publication or a product that may be presented and disseminated
through other acceptable means of communication or expression.
You may pursue projects during free time in the summer, between
semesters and/or in conjunction with advanced (independent
study/research) coursework for which credit might be earned.
Multiple investigators may submit a single proposal and may work
collaboratively on one research project.
II. COMPLIANCES
Researchers should be aware of the various regulations and
compliances to which the University must adhere. Any students
with questions about protocols may contact the Office of
Research and Sponsored Programs located at 220 Morris Hall.
1.Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR): All grant recipients
must complete RCR training before receiving their funds. More
information can be found at
http://www.uwlax.edu/grants/compliance/RCR.htm
2.Institutional Review Board (IRB): All undergraduates
conducting research involving human subjects must complete IRB
protocol. More information can be found at
http://www.uwlax.edu/grants/compliance/IRB.htm
3.BioSafety (IBC): More information can be found at
http://www.uwlax.edu/grants/compliance/IBC.htm
4.Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC): More
information can be found at
http://www.uwlax.edu/labanimal/iacuc.htm
III. PROPOSAL WRITING GUIDELINES
The proposal will consist of the following required six elements
TYPED AND ASSEMBLED IN THE ORDER LISTED BELOW IN A SINGLE PDF OR
WORD DOCUMENT. A checklist has been created for your convenience
and personal use to aid in completing the proposal.
1.Cover Sheet
2.Project Budget Sheet
3.Previously Funded Research Form, if applicable
4.Faculty letter of support
5.Student transcript(s) (not SNAPs) - unofficial are OK
6.Proposal narrative (maximum five pages double-spaced, must be
typed, must include title of proposal on the first page, pages
must be numbered, student’s last name(s) must be on each page in
the header)
You may use appendices to incorporate additional, pertinent
diagrams or information if absolutely necessary. All portions of
the proposal must be typed, not handwritten.
The following guidelines should be followed in
preparation of each portion of the research proposal:
Cover Sheet (follow instructions on the cover sheet)
Adobe PDF Version
MS Word Version
Note: If your project includes the use of human subjects,
contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (785-8007
or 220 Morris Hall) for Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols or
if hazardous chemicals or potentially hazardous biological
agents are to be used, contact the Environmental Health and
Safety Officer. If you have any questions, consult by email
stdtresearch@uwlax.edu.
Budget
Adobe PDF Version
MS Word Version
Domestic Proposals
Applicants may request a maximum of $1,500 for individual
domestic projects or up to $1,650 for collaborative projects. All funding
must be expended by one year after the award date. Applicants
for international projects may request a
maximum of $3000. Each student
who has a proposal funded will receive a stipend. The stipend is
already included in the total award amount; it is not in
addition to the award amount. For proposals with single student
investigators, the stipend is $600 for that student. For
proposals with multiple student investigators, the maximum
stipend is $950 per project and students should explain how
this amount is to be distributed on the Budget Summary page. The
remainder of the funds requested should be used for supplies,
travel, books and instructional materials and other expenses
required for execution of the research project. Money for all
categories will be awarded upon acceptance of Students may use
up to $30 for poster printing for presentation of the proposed
research. Incentives given to research participants must not
exceed more than 10% of the total grant award.
An itemized budget must accompany each proposal. While the
Committee reserves the right to adjust budgets, it is important
that proposers carefully assess their needs and ask for funds
accordingly. Applicants must correlate budget items with
materials or expenses mentioned in the proposal narrative, e.g.,
if travel funds are requested, the narrative should explain why
the travel is necessary for completion of the project.
Applicants should note that items included in broad categories
such as "miscellaneous" or "other" will not be accepted by the
Committee for funding. Round all budget entries to the nearest
dollar.
IMPORTANT: Please refer to the UW-L Travel Regulations website
http://www.uwlax.edu/budgetandfinance/travel/ for guidelines for allotted hotel and mileage amounts.
Previously Funded Research Form
Adobe PDF Version
MS Word Version
This form must be filled out by any student who has previously
received funding for undergraduate research. Providing these
details gives the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee a better idea
of the work you’ve completed in the past. The Undergraduate
Research and Creativity Committee will NOT fund proposals for work that has
already been completed. If the work is an extension of research
that has already been completed, the applicant must make this
clear in their proposal.
Letter of Support
The applicant should arrange to have his or her sponsoring
faculty member write and sign a critical letter of support to
the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee, commenting on the
individual abilities of the student investigator to succeed in
the undertaking. The faculty sponsor should clearly explain how
the student will act as an independent investigator in the
project and describe the role of the student in carrying out the
research. In addition, mention should be made of what
facilities, equipment, and supportive roles he or she intends to
lend to the work. Finally, the faculty sponsor should make an
estimate of the time required to complete the proposed work.
Transcripts
Copies of current academic transcripts for all applicants listed
on the proposal must be included. Unofficial copies of
transcript are acceptable. Student Notice of Academic Progress
or SNAPs are not allowed.
Proposal Narrative
The Undergraduate Research and Creativity Committee must make comparisons and
judgments across disciplines and methodological lines. The
applicant should keep this in mind, and remember that the review
committee is an interdisciplinary one and that there will be
several members who are not familiar with your field of study.
Therefore, proposals should be directed toward a general
audience and avoid the excessive use of jargon.
Remember: Proposal narratives (not including bibliography,
references and/or appendices) must be no longer than five
double-spaced typed pages. Proposal narratives MUST include the
title of the proposal on the first page, numbered pages, and the
name of the student(s) in the header.
All applicants must follow the narrative outline provided here:
1.Background/Statement of the Problem/Significance of the
Project. Be succinct. Clearly support your statement with
documentation and references, and include an up-to-date and
pertinent review of the relevant literature.
2.Objectives. Define the specific, proposed outcome(s) and
product(s) of the research. What will be known after the project
has been completed? If the anticipated outcomes are
quantifiable, explain how they will be measured.
3.Research Methods. Design and describe a work plan consistent
with your academic discipline. This may include, but is not
limited to, scientific research in the physical, biological or
social sciences, use of population samples, experimental and
control groups, or other methods of data gathering and
statistical analysis. The work plan may include archival
research, translations, ethnographic fieldwork, solitary
thinking, or other forms of analysis and synthesis of ideas and
concepts in the arts and humanities.
4.Final Products and Dissemination. Describe possible forms of
the final product, e.g., publishable manuscript, conference
paper, invention, software, exhibit, performance, etc. Be
specific about the methods used to disseminate your results to a
wide audience.
IV. Final Report
Grant awardees are required to submit a
FINAL REPORT to the
Office of Undergraduate Research. The report is an
electronic form that is filled out using Qualtrics. You must
login with your 8.4 and your student password.
Click here for Examples of Funded URCC Proposals


