Miami’s Office of Research for Undergraduates provides funding for undergraduate research, like that done by Isabel Held (left) under the mentorship of associate professor of psychology Jennifer Quinn (right).

For over three decades, the Miami University Senate has sponsored the URA to provide Miami undergraduates with a faculty-mentored experience in developing grant applications. The goal of these partnerships is to encourage discovery and stimulate creative activity.

Students with any major can apply for these awards, as long as they have an existing research experience with a faculty mentor. Both individual and team projects are eligible. In 2018-2019, 26 of 49 URAs went to student teams.

Typical awards range from $150 to $500, but individual projects of exceptional merit or projects involving student teams may receive up to $1,000. A faculty sponsor must certify that an individual or team project is worth doing, has educational value to the student(s) and can be accomplished in the proposed time frame. The aim and result of proposed projects may be modest as long as the work can reasonably be interpreted as research or a creative endeavor.

Applications for Fall 2020 projects are due March 2, 2020.  Full program guidelines and application instructions are available here.

Updated February 11 to correct deadline in headline. The original headline listed a deadline of October 14. The correct deadline for projects for Fall 2020 is March 2.

Photo of Isabel Held and Associate Professor Jennifer Quinn by Scott Kissell, Miami University Photo Services. Photo of Selina Davis and Associate Professor Joomi Chung by Ricardo Trevino, Miami University Photo Services.