Undergraduate Research in the Community Award

Undergraduate Research in the Community Award

Undergraduate Research in the Community Grants support projects that actively involve and meet the needs of community partners. Your ultimate aim will be to define and address a pressing community problem; do intellectual work that produces a public good; or conduct artistic, critical, or historical work that contributes to a community-identified issue. Awards will fund up to $2,000 for project expenses plus a $500 stipend. Funds will be awarded to offset research costs such as analyses, supplies, equipment, software, surveys, and travel. The stipend will be awarded upon successful completion of the project. If the project has multiple student investigators, the stipend will be divided among the participants.

Deadline: NEW!  This year there are two independent grant review cycles per semester.  The Spring 2012 deadlines are 5pm on February 28 and April 24.  Funding decisions for proposals submitted by February 28 will be made by March 27 to provide time for students to revise their proposals, if need be, for the April 24 deadline.

Eligibility:  Applicants must be accepted in an associate or baccaulaureate degree-seeking program at the University of Alaska Anchorage and must be enrolled in at least 3 credits at UAA for the duration of the research (excluding summer).  Your project must be a joint endeavor that includes a faculty member and one or more community members.  Only projects actively involving a community organization or agency in defining the problem, hypothesis, and outcomes will be considered. 

Application:  Your proposal should consist of the items listed below. Please see the Undergraduate Research in the Community guidelines (available below for download) for more information. Please include page numbers.

  • Application cover sheet
  • Project Description
  • Project Budget
  • References
  • Project Timeline
  • Resume
  • If the project has funding from an external source outside of OURS include an appendix with information about the funding (e.g. grant proposal, contract, etc.), a short narrative that explains how the proposed project meshes with the external source, and a budget that shows what will be funded by the OURS grant and the external source.

Submission: 

All applications must be submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship located in Rasmuson Hall 115 by the posted deadline. Unsigned applications will be considered incomplete.


Selection Criteria: Submission will be judged on:

  • clarity of the proposal
  • research methodology to be employed
  • significance and impact of the project within the community
  • evidence that the student(s) can carry out the project

Preference will be given to students who have not previously won this award.

Awards are contingent on approval by the Institutional Review Board, the Animal Rights Committee, or other committees as appropriate. For more information on the standards of research ethics at UAA, please visit the Research Integrity and Compliance website.

Responsibilities:  Recipients will (1) work closely with the community partner to develop the research emphasis, methodology, timelines, and outcomes, (2)meet at least monthly with the community partner during the research project, (3) present their projects publicly to their community partner and UAA, (4)submit a final written project report to the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship.  Project abstracts will be published in the proceedings of the annual Undergraduate Research & Discovery Symposium. 

Visit the Success Stories Website to view the proposals from previous award winners.

Instructions for completing the cover sheet:

  1. Download the interactive .pdf file.
  2. Either (a) complete the form electronically and print or (b) print the form and complete by hand.
  3. Collect necessary signatures.
  4. Either (a) submit the completed, signed cover sheet and all other application materials to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship in RH 115 or (b) scan the completed, signed cover sheet and email along with all application materials to ayresearch@uaa.alaska.edu.

Downloads:

Undergraduate Research in the Community Grants Guidelines
Undergraduate Research in the Community Grants Cover Sheet for Individual Proposals
Undergraduate Research in the Community Grants Cover Sheet for Group Proposals

These forms may also be picked up from the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship in RH 115.

Questions, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship at 907-786-1086 or ayresearch@uaa.alaska.edu.