Application for the 2009-10 University Undergraduate Research Scholars Program
Overview
This program enables capable undergraduates to actively participate in independent research projects, encourages them to communicate their research to the scholarly community, increases their competitiveness for national fellowships, and prepares them for graduate studies. Students who successfully complete the Undergraduate Research Scholar Program will be recognized by the Office of Undergraduate Research at an awards ceremony in the spring of 2010.
Requirements
To qualify for participation in this program, students must have completed at least 60 hours of undergraduate courses with at least 24 hours at Texas A&M (exceptions may be made with the approval of the student’s department head). Students should also have and maintain a Texas A&M GPR of 3.0 or higher, and be currently involved or planning to start a suitable undergraduate project. For full requirements, click here.
Application Instructions
The application consists of two parts: the cover page and the proposal itself. As part of the proposal, a detailed timeline should be included, which incorporates the 2009-10 Scholar deadlines, which can be found at http://ugr.tamu.edu/scholars/deadlines. An electronic copy of your proposal (PDF or MSWord) and an electronic copy of the cover page (with or without signatures) must be submitted to ugr@tamu.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, September 25, 2009.
In addition, a hard copy of the cover page with original signatures, along with a hard copy of the proposal, must be received by the Office of Undergraduate Research (318B Jack K. Williams Administration Building) no later than 5 p.m. Friday, September 25, 2009. Applications will be evaluated by the Office of Undergraduate Research, and students will be notified of their acceptance in October. When submitting your application, please staple your papers together, and do not use paper clips, report covers, spiral binding, etc.
Part I: Cover Page
The Cover Page asks for general information about the proposed research and information about the prospective Scholar and faculty advisor. You should identify the department in which you will register for six hours of 484, 485, 491, or 497. The Cover Page must bear the signatures of the student applicant, faculty advisor, department head of the student’s major, and department head of faculty advisor (if different).
Advisor’s Signature: Your advisor must sign, acknowledging that s/he has read and approved your proposal and agrees to serve as your Faculty Advisor for the duration of the project.
Click here to download the Cover Page.
Instructions for Filling out Cover Page: If you are having trouble saving your information on the Cover Page, follow the steps below:
1. Open the Cover Page, and save it to the desktop (or other applicable location).
2. Go to the location of the file (i.e. Desktop), and right-click the file.
3. Select Open with Adobe Acrobat Professional. This will open it in Adobe Acrobat Professional and allow you to write on it, rather than opening it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, which only allows you to read it.
4. As long as you open it in Adobe Acrobat Professional, you should be able to type the information, save, and email the file as a PDF.
**If you are still having trouble, try using the Student Computing Center by Evans Library or call the Office of Undergraduate Research for further instructions (979-458-0039).**
Part II: Proposal
The proposal includes a description of the research the student intends to undertake, its importance, and a proposed timeline showing the plan for completing the project by mid-April of 2010.
The proposal, which should be about 1,000 words in length, should include the following parts:
Summary – Briefly summarize the research you propose to do, how you plan to do it, and why it is important.
Introduction – Lay out the problem to be studied, and explain its importance. Review the previous relevant research in the field, documented with appropriate citations. Show the relationship between the previous research and the proposed project.
Project Description – State the hypothesis that your research aims to test. Give the specific objectives of your research project that are derived from your hypothesis.
Methodology and Timeline – Describe your research design and procedures and give a rationale for their use. Describe the resources you will utilize to accomplish your goals. Give a timeline that demonstrates how you will complete a polished thesis by early-April of 2010. Click here to view sample timelines.
Qualifications of Applicant – Describe any courses, previous research experience, or volunteer or work experience that qualifies you for this research. What additional skills do you bring to bear on the project?
References – Present bibliographical references in the form consistent with the professional journals in your field.
Click here to see examples of student proposals for the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program may be found at .
**Parts of this document were adapted from the Undergraduate Research Fellows Program application.
