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Awards include up to $1400 in a stipend for hours worked and up to $300 for project related expenses.
Notification: 6-8 weeks after the application deadline. All students will be notified.
Eligibility: In order to do a UROP project, you must be in an undergraduate degree program, in good academic standing, eligible to work in the U.S. and registered for at least 6 credits during the semesters that you will do your research (for summer projects, this is waived if you are registered for at least 6 credits in both the preceding and following semesters).
Students may hold only one UROP award at a time. While past award recipients may reapply, priority will be given to first‑time applicants. Past award recipients must have completed a final report, evaluation and presentation for all previous projects before they will be considered for another award. Students nearing graduation may apply only if they will complete their UROP projects, and submit a final report and evaluation and complete the presentation requirement before graduating from the University.
Important Information: Students may submit only one application for UROP at each deadline. If you are receiving credit for your project, you may not apply for the stipend portion of the award. You may apply for up to $300 in expense money. The earliest start date for projects applied for in this round is July 1, 2012 unless you get special permission from the UROP Office.
1. Getting Started: Your first goal is to determine your area(s) of research interest. UROP projects can either be based on a student's idea or can be centered around a faculty member's already existing project. You need to decide where your interests lie in order to find the appropriate mentor.
2. Find a Faculty Mentor: If you need some ideas on where to find a faculty mentor, look here. Some important things to keep in mind are: approach specific faculty members with some idea of what their research is about (you can find this on departmental web sites) so that you show them you are serious about working with them; be persistent - if someone says "no," ask them for a recommendation of others you might approach; start the process well before the deadline so you are not rushing a potential mentor.
3. Complete the Application: Once you have a mentor, and the two of you have discussed what your project will entail, you will need to fill out the application form and write the proposal. Please fill the form out completely as all information is required. Information on UROP expenses is available here, including some restrictions. Look at the tip sheet on writing a good proposal. Some sample proposals are available at the right. The application form and the mentor's recommendation form are in the Forms Library. Once these are completed, they are submitted through the links below. Faculty mentors should submit the recommendation form themselves.
4. Special Requirements/Restrictions: Some UROP projects require special permissions before your UROP project can be approved. If your project involves Human Subjects , Animal Subjects, Harmful or Dangerous Substances or involves Travel Abroad, you need to make sure you have taken the appropriate steps to get these permissions as you prepare your UROP application.
Web sites: UROP does not typically fund the creation of web sites as the creation of a web site in itself does not constitute research under the UROP Guidelines.
Paid training: UROP does not typically fund individual training or course/conference work as preparation for a UROP project.
Off-Campus Research: If your project involves off-campus research, for example in a state or national park, or in a foreign country, it is your responsibility to know and abide by the guidelines established for research in the particular location.
5. Ask!: If you have any questions or issues as you prepare a UROP application, please make sure to ask. For contact information including the UROP Coordinator, College UROP Coordinators and the Director of Undergraduate Research, go to the Contact Us link at the left.
Use this link to submit a UROP Proposal Application Form.
Use this link to submit a UROP Proposal.
Use this link to submit a Faculty Mentor Recommendation Form.
How to Access Your Money: All UROP funds are handled through your faculty mentor's department. Your award letter listed the contact person in that department. Contact this person to set up your payroll account, get time sheets and to access any approved expense money. Your department will keep track of how many hours you have worked but please keep your own records as well.
If You Need Extra Time: The start and end dates of your project were listed in your award letter. If you have not completed all project work and requirements and your end date is approaching, you will need to file an extension in order to stay current with your project. This should be filled out, signed by your mentor and returned to the UROP Office before your current ending date passes.
At the End of Your Project: Once you have reached the end of your project, there are three ending requirements that must be completed in order for you to access the final $200 of your stipend and be considered done with your UROP award. These include a final report of approximately 3 pages, a completed evaluation form and some public presentation or publication of your results. For ideas on presentation options, please see below..
The presentation/publication requirement for a UROP may be fulfilled in a number of ways that include presenting results to a class or at a disciplinary conference, publishing a journal article, hosting a web site, giving a public talk or seminar, or showing photographs or videos of artistic performances. You and your mentor should determine the most appropriate venue for your presentation. The Office of Undergraduate Research provides a number of opportunities for you to present your results that include:
1. Undergraduate Symposium, a poster display held each April in Coffman Union.
2. NCUR, the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The UROP Office gives full funding to 30 students and 10 faculty/staff each year to attend the conference. Applications for travel funding are available in early October.
3. University's Digital Conservancy, which gives you a permanent and searchable copy of your poster or paper. Everyone is eligible to submit their poster or paper to the University Digital Conservancy and it also ia an alternative way of presenting your work. You can find the form you need to submit your work on our Forms Library page.
Award Set Up: Financial management of UROP awards is accomplished in the EFS using a chartstring that includes:
--Fund 1000
--DeptID: appropriate for the faculty mentor for the project
--Program 20083
--FinEmplID: the student awardee's ID number
A combo edit for Program 20083 requires a Fin EmplID value in the chartstring for every transaction. The standard process for adding a Fin EmplID for a student to the EFS is for the department managing the funds to submit a separate BPEL COA value request for each student. However, for UROP awards, the UROP Office will request the set up of the BPELs directly to Accounting Services. Departments should not submit these requests.
The UROP Office will transfer money for UROP awards only once each year. At the end of the fiscal year, each department will be sent a list of current UROP students with four categories of funds: stipend, expenses, fringe and Enterprise fee. The department accountant needs to fill this out and return it to the UROP Office which will then arrange for transfer of these funds into a departmental chart string (you will need to identify a departmental number and the program number for the transfer) for your distribution to the individual student accounts. The UROP Office will make only one general transfer for each Dept ID.
Departments need to request the funds by July 31 each year. The transfers will be made in July/August depending on when the requests are received. If a student award runs over the fiscal year, we will transfer the portion that applies to the current year in July and the remaining portion the following year.
Award letters will continue to be sent for each student and copied to the department budget contact person. These include the total award amount (stipend and expenses) and a list of the approved expenses. UROP awards must be set up in the department as usual as students will continue to be paid on individual accounts. Students may not be paid their final $200 in stipend until they have completed their project including the final report, evaluation and presentation. Departments will be notified as a student finishes all of these and is eligible for the final $200. This payment will be included in the one-time fiscal year transfer if the student is eligible to receive it.
Any overspending on a student’s account will be the responsibility of the department. This includes payout of the final $200 for students who have not completed all requirements.
The deadline for UROP proposals for research and creative activities in Spring 2013 is October 8, 2012.
