Undergraduate Research

Academic Year Grants

Each semester, the Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (RSCA) office offers the Academic Year Undergraduate Research Experience (AYURE) grant to support faculty-mentored student scholarship. 

 

AYURE Program Funding:

  • Up to $750 for supplies, participant payments, etc. to carry out the project.
  • AYURE awardees are eligible to later apply for travel funds to present their work at a conference, pending campus/state permission to travel. Students are eligible for up to $1000 in travel support, and faculty mentors for up to $600.

 

Eligibility:

These competitive grants are open to all full-time faculty and their undergraduate mentees.

We adopt a broad, inclusive definition of "research" and welcome applications from all academic divisions on campus (Fine & Performing Arts, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Library, School of Business, School of Education, and School of Science & Engineering).

Projects can take numerous forms. For example:

  • Some are faculty-driven projects in which the student learns valuable skills while helping to advance the mentor’s scholarship. Others are student-driven projects in which the faculty mentor guides a student eager to chase a budding interest.
  • Some are conventional scholarship, where the aim is to create new knowledge or creative works. Others are apprenticeships, where the aim is to train the student on the discipline’s core skills, such as how to use state-of-the-art equipment or how to play an unusual musical instrument. Still others are applied projects, where the aim is to assist a campus or community group by, for example, providing a consultative service.

Whatever its form, the main eligibility criteria are:

  • Through one-on-one training from the faculty expert, the project extends the student’s learning and professional development beyond what is possible in the classroom.
  • Projects are also intensive, taking the semester or longer to complete. Mentors should meet at least weekly with their student to discuss progress and problems that arise during the semester.
  • The student is involved at a high level in multiple phases of the project.

Most projects involve only one faculty mentor and one student. But we have occasionally supported larger projects with two faculty mentors and/or two students.

Spring 2022 AYURE Application:

 

 

Congratulations to all 2022 Spring AYURE award recipients!

Abraham, Alina (Biology), ‘22 

Mangal, Riddhi (Biology), ‘22 

Mathew, Megha (Biology), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor:  Pamela St. John (Chemistry) 

Project Title: Measuring lethal concentrations of deuterated bisphenol A in regenerating planaria 

 

Burris, Matthew (Mathematics), ‘23 

Owens, Ryan (Mathematics), ‘23 

Faculty Mentor: Moshe Cohen (Mathematics) 

Project Title: The geometry of line arrangements 

 

DeSilva, Sherine (Cellular Biology), ‘22  

Furfaro, Julia (Cellular Biology), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor: Lydia Bright (Biology) 

Project Title: Functional effects of gene expression changes during RNAi-induced knockdown of Paramecium caudatum 

 

Durmazolu, Francesca (Biology), ‘23 

Faculty Mentor: Maureen Morrow (Biology) 

Project Title: Bacterial evolution in response to experimental climate change: Cataloging plasmids of abacterial culture collection 

 

Havnaer, Calvin (Biochemistry), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor: Frantz Folmer-Andersen (Chemistry) 

Project Title: Synthesis of modified enantioselective receptors 

 

Morales, Nicole (Mechanical Engineering), ‘23 

Faculty Mentor: Rachmadian Wulandana (Mechanical Engineering) 

Project Title: Bio-inspired axial turbines for hydrokinetic energy harvesting 

 

Neumann, Lindsay (Cellular/Molecular Biology), ‘22 

Maureen Morrow (Biology) 

Project Title: Bacterial evolution in response to experimental climate change: Cataloging plasmids of a bacterial culture collection 

 

Pilmanis, Aleks (Music & Computer Science) 

Faculty Advisor: Phyllis Chen (Music) 

Project Title: New music for synth series 

 

Sanford, Kimberly (Adolescent Education: English), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor: April Coughlin (Teaching & Learning) 

Project Title: Universal access: Bringing disability studies to higher education 

 

Talanki, Varsha (Biology), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor: Aaron Haselton (Biology) 

Project Title: Continued investigation into the insecticidal effects of Sassurea lappa extract against the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster 

 

Zeppieri, Zachary (Mechanical Engineering), ‘22 

Faculty Mentor: Heather Lai (Engineering) 

Project Title: Dynamic behavior of 3D printed compliant joints.