Office of
Research and Creative Scholarship

Undergraduate Research Scholar Award (URS)

About the URS

The Office of Research & Creative Scholarship awards Undergraduate Research Scholar awards of $750 per semester to undergraduates involved in an independent research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor, in the mentor’s area of expertise. The awards are available each semester of the academic year and during the summer. A student may work on a single research project for two or more semesters, receiving $750 per semester. The awards require student effort equivalent to one-semester credit of research in the department for each semester award.  Students wishing to do intensive research during the summer (the equivalent of two semester credits of research), may apply for a double award ($1500) during the summer.

The Undergraduate Research Scholar award is designed for Andrews University undergraduate students who are committed to conducting significant research or creative scholarship.

An essential feature of the Undergraduate Research Scholar award is the student/mentor relationship established between a student and a faculty member. This relationship begins when the student and faculty member agree on a research project and submit a joint proposal. During the project the student’s role should develop toward independence as a researcher or creator. The project could result in an Honors thesis and/or a presentation at an appropriate national or regional professional meeting, and might be published in the peer reviewed, professional literature. In all cases, the student completes his or her undergraduate career with an exciting educational endeavor.

If the student’s Undergraduate Research Scholar work is accepted for presentation at a regional or national professional meeting while still a student at Andrews University, the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship can provide supporting funds to cover 50% of the student’s travel/attendance expenses, up to $500. Learn more about conference reimbursement here.

Eligibility

To be eligible for participation in the Undergraduate Research Scholar program, a student should be a full-time student at Andrews University and have completed a minimum of 30 undergraduate credits (2 semesters). Students must have a cumulative Andrews University GPA of at least 3.25, have an immediate prior semester GPA of at least 3.25, and maintain a 3.25 GPA for each semester for which the award is granted.

Application Process

Application Deadline: First Friday of the semester.

Download Form: URS Application Form

Students may contact a faculty member in whose area of research the student is interested, or a faculty member may choose a student. An application is submitted by the student's research mentor to the Research Office. If approved, the mentor will submit a research progress report as the end of the semester approaches in order for the award to be released to the student’s account. Please note that in order for the student to receive the award, the faculty mentor must certify that the student has completed the amount of effort expected to receive a passing grade for a one-credit departmental Research course. Faculty with ongoing active research programs involving students can request up to two Undergraduate Research Scholar awards in a semester.  

The deadline for application is the first Friday of the semester or summer term, and the student and faculty mentor will be informed of the approval decision by the end of the following week. Please email the completed form in Microsoft Word format or as an RTF file to the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, research@andrews.edu. Please do not submit the application as a PDF, as an Apple Pages document (unless exported in Rich Text Format), or by using Google Docs/Drive.

The mentoring faculty member may complete most of the form; however, the student is responsible for completing two sections—"Student Research Protocol and Expectations" and "Student Resume." Though written in consultation with the professor, these sections give the student the opportunity to demonstrate ownership of the research. Projects should be chosen that are consistent with the professor's research agenda and yet are in line with the interests of the student.

Responsibilities

Undergraduate Research Scholars are expected to:

  1. Register for a research course. The registration may be for zero, one, or two credits.
  2. Complete the Responsible Conduct of Research Certification (and also the NIH PHRP training if working with human subjects). To apply for RCR training, please email irb@andrews.edu and request the training.
  3. Participate in the annual Honors Scholars and Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium.
  4. Undertake the equivalent amount of work that the student's department expects for a one-credit research course.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property produced by students as part of their URS is retained by the student if the research is a student-initiated project independent of the research program of their faculty mentor.  However, the intellectual property developed by students as part of a larger research program of the faculty mentor is retained by the university/faculty member.  In this latter case, faculty mentors should ask the URS student to sign a Student IP Waiver form before beginning their research program.  This completed Student IP Waiver form should be retained by the faculty member, with a copy emailed to research@andrews.edu.  This does not waive the student’s right to be listed as a coauthor on all presentations and publications resulting from the student’s contribution to the research project.

Download Form: Student IP Waiver Form

Reporting

Since the award is given in recognition of the student’s scholarly growth and educational progress, it will be awarded at the end of the semester of her/his involvement, based on the faculty mentor’s certification that the student has achieved the expectations in terms of involvement, interest and growth. Once the faculty mentor has certified that the student has met expectations by submitting the URS report to the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship (research@andrews.edu), the award will be credited to the student’s account.

Download Form: URS Report Form

If, by the end of the semester, the student has not made satisfactory progress, the award will not be given. Rather it will be retained by the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship for awarding to future undergraduate research students.

Past Research

Research topics of previous Undergraduate Research Scholars can be found here: URS Award Recipients.

Support Undergraduate Research

Thank you for partnering with the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship.  Gifts to this fund will be used to expand the number of Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards and support faculty and student research activities above and beyond what is normally funded through the internal grant process, to cover travel expenses to national and international conferences, and to support the hosting of research conferences where our faculty and students can interact with other researchers from around the world.  Donate here.