The Office of Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research Assistantship

Overview
Frequently Asked Questions
Proposal Submission Instructions - All proposal materials will be submitted electronically.
Proposal Deadlines Please note that a student may earn $1,500 each funding period for Summer I and Summer II for a total of $3,000 for the summer period. If these two funding periods are selected students will be expected to work full time on research projects.
Review Process
Successful Proposals Examples
Currently Funded Projects

Time Sheet Fall 2011

Overview
Since 1997 UNCG has invested more than $1,000,000 and supported more than 900 students in the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) program. The URA program offers highly motivated students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member on his/her research, scholarship, or creative activity.
Faculty and students in all academic disciplines are encouraged to submit proposals. Faculty members, in consultation with students, complete a four part application, due in January or March (depending on when funding is requested).

The proposals are reviewed by a faculty committee, with the quality of the proposal as the primary selection criterion.

The URA program is funded through the indirect costs generated by external grants awarded to UNCG.
Students can earn up to $3,000 ($1,500 per funding period) for their work and must present their work at UNCG's celebration of undergraduate research held each spring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you accept late proposals?
No everything must be submitted by the deadlines given below.

May a faculty member work with a freshman on a URA? Students must have a sophomore, junior, or senior status beginning August 2012. The URA program does support post-Baccalaureate degree seeking students who are enrolled at UNCG in an undergraduate degree program.

What is the minimum G.P.A. a student needs to have to be eligible for a URA? Students must have at least a 2.7 GPA at the time of application.

May a transfer student be awarded a URA? Yes.

Must the student be enrolled full time while completing an URA? No, a student may be enrolled part time while applying and/or carrying out a URA.

How many students may a faculty mentor support through the URA program in a given academic year? A faculty mentor may request support for up to two students a year. This can be accomplished in one of two ways: 1) a faculty mentor could submit two unique proposals, one with each student OR 2) a faculty mentor can submit one proposal that supports two different students. In the latter case, a faculty mentor should clearly distinguish the unique role each of the two students will play in the project as well as the skill development of each of the students.

How many different proposals may a faculty mentor submit in an academic year? The same faculty mentor/student team may submit one proposal in an academic year. Since a faculty mentor can work with up to two students, the maximum number of proposals a faculty mentor can submit is two.

May a faculty mentor use URA funds to support a student as part of their large, on-going research program? Yes, however in large on-going research programs cases, it is incumbent upon the faculty mentor to clearly delineate the role a student will play in the overall project as well as the skill development of the student(s).

What type of faculty members may apply to the program? Mentors do not need to occupy tenure/tenure-track lines but must be a faculty member. Individuals who are on post-doctoral assignments are also eligible to apply. If the mentor is not tenured or in a tenure-track position, an additional page to the application is required. See the instructions page for details.

When are URA proposals due? Projects/Proposals requesting summer support must be submitted on or before the January deadline. If that project/proposal is not funded that same project/proposal may not be resubmitted for the March deadline (i.e., any revisions of the same proposal will not be reconsidered). Here is a table that clearly shows when proposals are due.

How do I apply for a URA?Click here for instructions on how to submit a URA proposal.

What is the stipend amount of a URA? Students are paid a $1,500 stipend for a given funding period (summer I, summer II, fall, and spring semester). Mentors may request a maximum of $3,000 for each student.

May a student receive both credit and a URA for the same project? No, at the time of the application the student and faculty member must outline how the course credit works towards the project will compliment that done while getting paid from the URA program.

Proposal Submission Instructions
Please remember that late proposals will not be considered by the panel.
There are four parts to the URA proposal. In the table below we outline details with respect to how each part is to be submitted and specific information about each part with respect to formatting and content.

Item	How to submit	Details
1. On-line coversheet	Electronically via SurveyMonkey	Click here for the form. First deadline to submit is 5pm on January 27, 2012 Deadline to submit is 5pm on March 18, 2012.
Save items #2-4 as one pdf document and send as an one attachment to mcroweuncg@gmail.com The deadline for Items #2-4 is 5 pm on January 27th for those proposals requesting summer support; those that request fall support are due in no later than 5 pm on March 18th.
2. Title page	Electronically  with the project description and literature cited	A. Title of the project B. Faculty mentor’s name C. Student(s) name D. At the bottom of this page, the statement “This statement certifies that both the student(s) (INSERT NAME(s)) and faculty mentor(s) (INSERT NAME(s)) were involved in the development of this URA proposal.
3. Three page project description	Electronically with the title page and literature cited	The actual project description can not exceed three pages in length. Standard 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, left and right sides. You must use font Times New Roman (size no smaller than 11). The project description should be written in jargon-free English, and include the following sections: A. Project goals (Hypothesis, objectives, etc.), making sure to explain how this is scholarship for your academic discipline B. Methods the student will utilize to achieve goals C. Role of the faculty mentor D. Role of the student E.  Describe the relationship of the project to the faculty member’s body of scholarship/research. (It is ok if the student’s project is only tangentially related to your scholarship, but you will need to explain in this section why you are willing to mentor the student if it is not directly related to your work).   F. Please tell us how the project will impact the student’s career goals (the student must write this section and using active voice is acceptable).
4. Literature Cited page	Electronically with title page and project proposal	You may have up to ONE page of References/Literature Cited. This page should only contain a list of cited works. If the project description "happens" to spill over on this page, the URA committee will not consider your proposal for funding.

* If the mentor is a faculty member in a non-tenure line a letter from that person’s supervisor is required to address how the completion of the project and mentoring of the student will continue if the mentor leaves UNCG prior to the completion of the project.

Deadlines for URA Proposals - LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED BY THE PANEL

Funding period	Summer I 2012*	Summer II 2012*	Fall 2012	Spring 2013	Proposal due
URA requested	x	x			January 27, 2012
URA requested	(either Su I or Su II)*		x		January 27, 2012
URA requested	(either Su I or Su II)*			x	January 27, 2012
URA requested			x		March 18, 2012
URA requested			x	x	March 18, 2012
URA requested				x	March 18, 2012

*If you select Summer I and II, the student should be working full time on their project during this time. You can NOT request funding for Summer I, II, AND Fall OR Summer I, II, AND Spring. In these cases, the student would be supported for a total of three funding periods which we can not do.

Review Process
After a URA proposal has been submitted, OUR makes copies of your proposal then distributes them to a faculty committee. Each member of the committee reviews the proposal independently and assigns the proposal a score. After each member assigns the proposal a score, the committee meets to discuss the proposals and decides which proposals to fund. The primary criterion is the quality of the proposal. While the committee discusses the proposal, Dr. Crowe takes notes so that those not chosen for funding receive some feedback as to why their proposal was not selected.
A proposal can receive a maximum of 30 points based on the following
(Max 5 points)      A. Project goals
(Max 5 points)      B. Methods the student will utilize to achieve goals
(Max 5 points)      C. Role of the faculty mentor
(Max 5 points)      D. Role of the student
(Max 5 points)      E.  The relationship between the project and the faculty member’s overall body of scholarship/research
(Max 5 points)      F. How the project impacts the student career goals

Successful Proposal Examples
Click on the faculty member's name to see an example of a proposal selected for funding in January 2011.Please make sure your proposal has sections A-F. (See instructions for applications for more details)