URSA Grant Guidelines

Research Grant Program Guidelines

The Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) Research Grant Program is part of the Office of Engaged Learning. Together with other programs, URSA seeks to nurture students and link transformative academic studies to real world opportunities. The URSA program administers six types of research grants to students and faculty in all academic disciplines. The purpose of these grants is to promote and expand meaningful research participation by undergraduate students, to engage students in faculty/student collaborative learning relationships, and to expose students to resources and facilities that may stimulate their interest in pursuing advanced degrees and research careers. There are several types of grants available to provide opportunities for a variety of research needs.

Please let us know at URSA@baylor.edu if you have a funding request that does not fall under any of these programs.

Student and Mentor Eligibility

The student research proposals are submitted by a single undergraduate student. Students should work with their mentors to write a clear and concise proposal. Students are required to be in good academic standing and provide an unofficial transcript. Full-time Baylor faculty, regardless of rank, are eligible to serve as faculty mentors for students applying for these research funds. Mentors are required to provide supporting information concerning the student’s role on the project.

Student Research Proposals

These research proposals are submitted by a student with assistance from a faculty mentor. Applications are competitively reviewed and awarded as funds allow. The OEL encourages collaborative proposals that engage students in interdisciplinary research environments. One student should take the lead on a team project, or each student should prepare a proposal for their part of the research.

The URSA Research Grant (RG): up to $5000 awarded for the next fiscal year for Equipment, Supplies, Services, Travel, and/or Student employment

Deadline: last Friday of January CLOSED
$2500/semester and up to $5000/year
RG Proposal Template
URSA Research Grant Application
URSA Research Grant Faculty Support Form

The Spring URSA Research Grant (Spring-RG): up to $2500 awarded for spring semester for Equipment, Supplies, Services, Travel, and/or Student employment

Deadline: Friday before Thanksgiving (Late Proposals are being accepted until the last Friday in January.) CLOSED
$2500/semester
Spring-RG Proposal Template
URSA Research Grant Application
URSA Research Grant Faculty Support Form

The URSA Mini Research Grants : There are 4 types of MRGS. Students are eligible for 1 per semester.

-MRG for Equipment, Supplies, or Services

-MRG for Travel

-MRG for publication costs for papers that include undergraduate authors

-MRG for Student Employment : up to $500 for current academic year

Deadline: Proposals Reviewed Monthly
$500/student/semester
MRG Proposal Template
URSA Mini-Research Grant
URSA Mini Research Grant Faculty Support Form

Faculty Proposals for Undergraduate Research Projects

A new category of URSA funding is to encourage course-based research or other larger-scale research programs. These are being called "authentic large-scale undergraduate research experiences" (ALURE grants) to emphasize the courses or programs should incorporate activities and experiences that engage students in research. The proposals are submitted by a faculty member or faculty team to support large-scale research initiatives.  Ideally this will include 10 or more students, but this may vary. Please ask us if you have an idea. This could be a cohort of students for a single over-arching project or a course-based research activity, a summer program, community-based projects, or faculty supervised internships. Funding will be available for student employment, travel, or supplies and equipment required for the project. Funding may not be used for faculty stipends or support.

Spring Proposals due the Friday before Thanksgiving
Proposals for the next academic year are due the last Friday of January
$2500/semester and up to $5000/year
ALURE Guidelines

Institutional Compliance

Institutional compliance is required. Projects utilizing human subjects, animal subjects, radioactive materials, or recombinant DNA must have established protocols approved by the relevant institutional compliance committee(s). Funds cannot be dispersed until your protocol is approved.
Any website or online database proposed with College of Arts & Sciences funding must follow the Baylor ITS Guidelines and Policies.

Budgetary Considerations

Travel

Student travel is reimbursed through Student Financial Services and Scholarships since it is included in “Payments, prizes or winnings because of enrollment at the University for the purpose of aiding a student’s study, training or research.” This process takes around 5-7 days to place a student in the system and requires Direct Deposit information. Student research travel is an allowable expense only when it is essential to accomplish specific grant objectives. Reimbursement for transportation, lodging and meals will be in accordance with current university travel policy. Receipts for travel should be submitted to the OEL/URSA.

Equipment

Minor equipment requests required for the undergraduate student's research project are allowable. Upon project termination, any equipment purchased with project funds will remain under the jurisdiction of the department of the faculty mentor.

Duplicate funding

Please report additional funding for this project in your budget. We understand that multiple small grants may be required to support research projects. This type of over-lapping funding is permitted. If duplicate funding is awarded for the approved research after the URSA grant has been awarded, all remaining funds in the URSA grant must be relinquished.

Student Wages

Students may receive wages for research activities. All students in the same department should be paid equitably. Please remember to budget for FICA (social security) charges of 7.65% if the students are not enrolled in classes, such as for summer projects. Work-study hours for research follow the same guidelines as other types of student employment. Please determine if students are eligible for work-study before including this in the budget. Mentors should work with the OEL to set up Ignite accounts for hiring and paying student researchers.

Funds may not be requested for the following:

Faculty salaries and fringe benefits;
Supplemental pay for full-time Baylor faculty and staff;
Faculty travel to professional meetings or conferences to present project results;
Maintenance & service contracts for equipment;
Expenses incurred prior to the beginning of the project period.

Proposal Review

A broadly representative faculty review committee will evaluate URSA small grant proposals for substantive merit according to the following major criteria:

Scholarly merit of the research and its appropriateness as a vehicle for undergraduate research;
Extent to which the project engages undergraduates in meaningful research experiences;
Likelihood that the project will lead to opportunities for undergraduate publication or other professional presentation of project results.

Additional considerations will be:

Qualifications and experience of the faculty mentor and other key personnel that indicate the ability to engage undergraduates successfully in meaningful research experiences;
The extent in which the project uses existing resources and programs to expand undergraduate participation in research;
The extent in which the project shows promise to extend student benefits of participation beyond the period of the URSA Research Grant.

Award Conditions

Grant Administration

Awards will be set up as Ignite accounts and administered through the Office of Engaged Learning.
Each justification should refer to the student’s project and use of funds. URSA Research Grant Awards will be for a maximum of 12 months and will coincide with the university fiscal year, from June 1 through May 31.
All project funds must be expended during the fiscal year in which they are awarded.
No-cost extensions are allowed.

Project Revisions and Final Ownership of Equipment

Awardees are required to conduct the project in accordance with the proposal and budget approved by the URSA grants review committee.
Any change in research objectives or scope of work or a major budget revision requires the prior approval of the Office of Engaged Learning.
If a student leaves the project for any reason, the remaining funds return to the URSA Grant fund. They do not transfer to the faculty member or to another student or project.
Upon project termination, any equipment purchased with project funds will remain under the jurisdiction of the department of the faculty mentor.

Final Report Guidelines

Faculty mentors are responsible for the Final Report. Awardees are required to submit a final project report to URSA@baylor.edu no later than 60 days after the project expiration date. Failure to comply with this requirement will render the faculty mentor ineligible for future funding from the URSA grants program.

List the name(s) of the undergraduate students that were supported by the grant and the role that each student played in completing the work.
Were the Specific Objectives of the grant met? Please explain.
How much of the budget was spent? If less than 100%, please explain.
Were there any publications or presentations that were completed by the undergraduate? Please provide citations or links if available.
Please include any other relevant information concerning the students that were supported. For example, are they continuing in research? If they have graduated, are they in a graduate program?
Please provide a short video and/or picture with caption of you and your student(s) for a “News Story” or social media posting.

Scholars Week Participation

URSA Research Grant recipients, both faculty and students, are expected to participate in Scholars Week in the spring semester. The schedule and details will be provided on the URSA web page. Students may present a poster or give a platform presentation. Faculty mentors may serve as judges and participate in sessions for faculty members interested in learning more about URSA.

Acknowledgement

Any published work supported in whole or in part by an URSA grant should acknowledge such support in the publication. Other publicity related to the project, such as Baylor PR articles, should also carry acknowledgment. An example acknowledgement is: “This study was supported in part by funds from the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement Research Grant Program and the Office for Engaged Learning at Baylor University.”