URSA Grants for Faculty: ALURE Proposals

Background and Purpose 

The vision for this URSA funding opportunity is to provide an avenue for faculty to fund undergraduate research projects or programs that engage a group of students. Whereas the student URSA Research Grants are designed to allow individual students to write a proposal and to have an apprentice type research experience with a mentor, these “large-scale” faculty URSA Grants are designed to give faculty freedom to recruit a team of students and develop or support effective undergraduate research initiatives.  We envision an expanded definition of the authentic large-scale undergraduate research experience (ALURE) to incorporate all disciplines, with programs designed by faculty and supported by the Office of Engaged Learning. 

Students that participate in research reap many benefits, including academic motivation, increased retention, deeper understanding of a discipline, and clarity in career decisions. 

Approximately 28% of graduating seniors at Baylor report participating in research as an undergraduate, either as a class project, one-on-one with a mentor, a small team experience, a paid position, or as a summer research experience. Overall, students that participate in research have a higher success rate in terms of finding a job or entering a graduate program; some categories as high as 20% better compared to students without a research experience! Although this is exciting news, through deliberate planning and actions, we believe we can establish highly successful research programs that will benefit a larger and more diverse group of students.  We are open to your creative ideas.  Please contact us at ursa@baylor.edu with any suggestions or questions. 

Challenge: How can Baylor faculty provide authentic and transformative research experiences to a larger percentage of Baylor students? 

Solution: Provide funding for “large-scale” projects, such as course-based projects, team projects, summer research experiences, and research-based internships. 

---

Template for Proposals

The ALURE proposal consists of the following 6 sections. Please write in a clear and concise style that someone outside of your field will understand. You may use figures to clarify, but this is not required.  The proposal should be 4-6 pages in length.  If this is a team-led project, please choose one member of the team to submit the proposal. Once the proposal is complete, use the Submit Proposal link on the URSA Grant web page to upload your proposal.  

Part 1: Project design 

1. Leadership: Describe who will lead this project 

2. Delivery: Describe how this project will be delivered to increase the number of students that are able to participate in research?  Include how many students will participate, how the students will be selected, if students will receive credit, a salary, or volunteer. Will this project take place in the summer, spring, or fall, or last an entire year?  

3. Organization: Describe the organization of this project.  For example, will students work in collaborative teams or individually on projects.  Where and when will students meet? 

Part 2: Background and Research Topic 

1. Experience: Please describe any previous undergraduate research experiences or courses in research design or planning in which you (and your team of leaders) have been involved. What motivates you to develop undergraduate research opportunities? 

2. Title: Provide a specific and informative title for your proposal. 

3. Objectives: Give the specific objectives and a clear rationale for your proposal.  

4. Background: Provide a synopsis of the area of research and how your proposed project fits in to the bigger picture. (This is not expected to be a full literature review.) Describe the history of this project and in general the questions that students will be exploring. Provide citations to around 5 relevant primary sources and include the references in the "Literature Cited" section. 

5. Impact: Please describe the impact this project may have on you, your students, or others.  

Part 3: Methods 

1. Experimental Design:  

1. If your project involves field or lab research, summarize the experimental design and methods that the students will be utilizing.  

2. If your project is an internship or based on literature review, survey analysis, or other scenarios, explain your plan for students completing a project and the type of data they will collect. 

2. Timeline: Provide a timeline for completing the work. 

3. Analysis: Describe the methods that students will use to analyze the results. 

Part 4: Training and Safety 

If your project requires IACUC, IRB, or other training or approval, please explain why. Include a screen shot of your certification or other documentation indicating your successful completion of the training or explain when you will complete the training and how students will be trained. 

Part 5: Literature Cited 

Provide citations to any references included in your proposal.  Use an accepted format in your discipline for citations. 

Part 6: Budget 

You may request funds for supplies, small equipment, services, student wages, and student travel for professional meetings or training. Please read the Budget Considerations in the URSA Grant Guidelines. Please describe any over-lapping funding that is already awarded for this project 
a. If you are requesting goods and services, provide a list of supplies or services. Include the vendor, the cost, and a brief justification for the use of funds.  

Vendor	Cost	Justification

 
b. If you are requesting student wages, provide a summary of the number of students, (you do not need to include their names) approximate number of hours and salary per student, and their responsibilities and activities.  

# of Students	Cost (hours x salary)	Student Responsibilities and Activities

 
c. If you are requesting travel funds, provide the location and cost of lodging and travel. Give a brief justification for the travel proposed. This grant only funds undergraduate student travel. 

Event and Date	Location	Cost	Justification

Spring Proposals due November 17, 2023

2024-25 proposals due the last Friday in January.

SUBMIT Your Proposal