EIU Pine Honors College

Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (URSCA)

In 2023-24 the University created a one-time research grant fund for undergraduates that will allow a larger grant than usual.

In 2023-24 URSCA grants will be in the amount of $1000 for fall and spring grants. 

All undergraduates from all disciplines with a faculty sponsor and a GPA of 3 or higher can apply. Students do not need to be participants in an Honors program to be eligible.

Students have presented their URSCA-funded research and creative activity at regional and national discipline-specific conferences, and at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR).

See a list of our URSCA award winners.

Requirements

• undergraduate student in good standing with a minimum 3.00 GPA
• enrolled full-time for the current semester AND the semester in which the research/creative activity is to be conducted
• For Summer awards, students must be enrolled in at least one research or creative activity class related to the funded project; this includes independent study courses.
• For Fall and Spring awards, students must work on an independent project under the guidance of a research mentor.
• Research must be completed, and the summary reflection submitted to the Honors College at the end of the term for which the grant was awarded.
• Students do not need to be part of the Honors College to apply.

Fall, Spring, and Summer Awards

Depending on the availability of funds, the award for Fall and Spring applicants will be in the amount of $1000 (transferred to the faculty mentor's department to help support the student's research project). Funds transferred to the department can be spent on the student's research in a number of ways - the student researcher's supplies, software, licenses, prizes for surveys, travel to off-campus conferences (or other research travel), etc. can be covered. Additional funds are also available to allow students to travel to NCUR (the National Conference on Undergraduate Research - in 2024 it will be in Long Beach, California), so those should not be requested as part of the URSCA grant budget.

Summer awards are usually larger ($2000-3000 depending on the number of applications funded) and are enough to cover the cost of a summer course.

Deadlines - Apply Here

Fall 2023 URSCA applications: Friday September 8, 2023 - Note this is an extra opportunity to apply. Those who received funds under the spring deadline do not need to re-apply, and will receive the higher amount presuming that it can be usefully spent).

Spring 2024 URSCA applications: Friday, October 20, 2023

Summer 2024 URSCA applications: Friday, March 1, 2024

Fall 2024 URSCA applications: Friday, April 5, 2024

Note: applications open on AcademicWorks for each round approximately one week after the previous round closes (just type URSCA into the search box).

To Apply

1. Review the proposal instructions, below. Do feel free to look at samples of prior successful URSCA proposals.
2. Complete the written part of your proposal in a Word document, and then share it with your faculty mentor to review.
3. Your faculty mentor will receive an email requesting information in support of your application. For more info, see below.
4. Complete and submit your application on AcademicWorks (search for URSCA).

Note that while the samples are from summer proposals, they have the essential ingredients of all good proposals--a clear project with a detailed timeline, a plan for publicizing the results of research, and specific plans for the funds to be awarded.

Note that the last question asks for a budget. Please be as specific as possible. Travel to the annual NCUR conference is funded separately from the URSCA award, so please do not list NCUR travel as a category of expense.

Proposal Instructions

• Click here for detailed instructions.