RESEARCH 4U? UGR and URECA grants Andrienne Friedli & Julie Gannon Undergraduate Research Center Middle Tennessee State University 1 Why Do Research? • Apply coursework • Thesis • Technical experience Graduate school Build resume • Soft skills • Curiosity • Have FUN! 2 How To Get Started? Ask experienced research students Talk to faculty about opportunities Look for research posters in the hallway Look for research courses Follow up on opportunities you learn about today! 3 3 Undergraduate Research Programs www.mtsu.edu/urc • Undergraduate Research Experiences & Creative Activity • NSF - TN Louis Stokes Alliance • for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) • NSF - 1st STEP (STEPMT) • NSF-REU- Geoenvironmental Challenges • HONORS College, PHYSICS Dept 4 URECA URECA: Undergraduate Research Experiences & Creative Activity University-Wide: All Colleges and Departments $120,000/year • Two Levels: Scholars and Assistants • Three types of Scholars • Three deadlines Ms. Gannon Julie.Gannon@mtsu.edu http://www.mtsu.edu/urc/ 5 Undergraduate Summary of Grants (handout) Types of Grants: Assistant • Starter grant $500 (60 h, 1 semester) • 2 pages • Timeline Scholar • $1000-$3500 (100-350 hours) • 3-5 pages • Timeline • Support letter 6 Silver 1 semester 100 h $1000 Gold 2 semesters 100 h $2400 Platinum Summer fulltime 350 h $3500 Summer Teams Summary of Grants (handout) • Faculty- defined and mentored team $1000 per week up to $4000 • 3-6 Undergraduate students with unique roles • 3-8 weeks (40 h full-time) $320 per week Reviewed by URECA committee – representatives from all colleges Due in March – awards in April 7 URECA – Other Budget Supplies • Must be needed specifically for project • (refer in proposal) • Justify in detail Travel • Must be necessary in order to do project project Travel to presentSilver results • Separate request after project • $400-$500 per year 8 Gold Platinum URECA Deadlines Proposal Deadlines: • 2nd Thursday in September (10th) @ 4:00 pm for Fall and AY • Last Thursday in January (28th) for Spring • April 7th for summer projects and teams Turnaround time (12 days) 9 Expectations Accountability • Mentor confirmation of hours (timesheet for some levels) • Final report • Presentation at SW or SRC • Other: papers, performances MTSU Summer Celebration Poster Session July 31, 2015 10 Scholars Week University-Wide Poster Session April 1, 2016 Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) • Goal: To increase the number of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – 500 students in 10 years • Benefits: Recruitment and tutorial programs, scholarships, and undergraduate and summer research opportunities ($1000) • For more information Ms. Mimi Thomas, mthomas@mtsu.edu http://www.mtsu.edu/tlsamp/ 11 Other MTSU Options REU program • Pre-service STEM teachers by application • $4500 per summer For more info: Mark.Abolins@mtsu.edu Individual PI Funded Projects: • Academic and summer research opportunities $1000-$4500. First STEP: • For more info: Ginger.Rowell@mtsu.edu Honors For more info: Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu 12 Off-Campus Research Options Academic • Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Government • National Labs (e.g.ORNL) • NASA Labs Industrial • Internships in industry 13 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) • • • • Junior level student with GPA > 3.0 Applications due in Feb - March 2 mo - 10 weeks $4000-5000 stipend with lodging, food, travel Variety of locations Cal State San Bernardino 14 Government Lab Research NASA Laboratories (Marshall, JPL, Ames, Goddard, Langley, Johnson) • Apply to individual lab • • • 15 10 weeks $5000 stipend + travel Jan 31 deadline Government Lab Research Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) • • • • • 16 Summer 10 weeks $400/week stipend $105/week housing Jan 10 deadline Application workshop TBD Industrial Research EXL (credit) Cooperative Education Academic year, usually full time Internships (credit or pay) Bridgestone Corp Headquarters Biotechnology (Dr. Seipelt, rseipelt@mtsu.edu) mtsu.edu/~biotech/ Variety of local industries Dr. Gore, dgore@mtsu.edu BioVentures (M’boro) Biomimetic Therapeutics (Franklin) Orchid Cellmark 17 More Information Dr. Friedli afriedli@mtsu.edu Faculty in your department URECA/URC www.mtsu.edu/urc julie.gannon@mtsu.edu TLSAMP mimi.thomas@mtsu.edu Honors laura.clippard@mtsu.edu 18