The Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (RSCA) office provides the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) grant. This grant supports faculty-mentored undergraduate student projects during an 8-week summer period.
Funding
- Up to $750 for supplies, participant payments, etc. to carry out the project. For more details, see our chart of purchase types allowed by each RSCA grant.
- A stipend of approximately $3,500 (hourly rate) to the student.
- A stipend of $1,200 to the faculty mentor.
Supplemental Rising Sophomore Award
SURE grants are typically awarded only to advanced students, due to the level of experience required to conduct a SURE project. But even less advanced students can benefit from participating in a project like this. Doing so may position them to develop a fruitful long-term collaboration with the faculty mentor or prepare them for later grant opportunities.
Therefore, as a supplement to the SURE award, we offer the Rising Sophomore Award to a rising sophomore (someone in between first and second years) who works on the project with the faculty mentor and the upperclass SURE student. This award provides up to $3,400 stipend (hourly rate) for 300 hours of work, and an additional $300 stipend to the mentor. The award is not a stand-alone award; it must be associated with a funded SURE project. See the application below for details and expectations.
Eligibility
These competitive grants are open to all undergraduate students and their full-time faculty mentors.
Projects must satisfy these core 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 8-week summer period (or longer) to complete. Mentors should meet regularly each week 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 who split the award.
SURE 2022 Application Materials
- SURE 2022 Call for Proposals (Word).
- SURE Supplemental Award for Rising Sophomores (Word)
- SURE proposal evaluation sheet (pdf)
Samples of Prior Proposals (pdfs)
- SUREexample_Arts; SUREexample_Arts2
- SUREexample_Biological Sciences; SUREexample_Biological Sciences2
- SUREexample_Humanities; SUREexample_Humanities2
- SUREexample_Social Sciences; SUREexample_Social Sciences2
*These samples use discontinued proposal forms. None should be viewed as a flawless model to imitate. Rather, they should be viewed as good models for clarity in particular.
SURE 2022 Award Winners
Michael Anderson, Mathematics, ‘23
Mentor: Anca Radulescu, Mathematics
Synchronization and Clustering in Realistic Reticular Thalamic Brain Architectures
Brooke Cammann, Art History & Chemistry, ‘23
Mentor: Keely Heuer, Art History
From “Perfecting” to Stabilization: The Evolution of Ancient Italian Bronzeworking Conservation
Elina Dart, Economics, ‘23
Mentor: Edith Kuiper, Economics
Sadie Alexander and the Economics Science of Her Time
Paloma Estess, Biology: Environmental Concentration, ‘22
Mentor: David Richardson, Biology
Vertical Distribution and Diel Vertical Migration of Zooplankton in Regional Lakes
Gabriella Gilbride, History, ‘24
Mentor: Reynolds Scott-Childress, History
Coloring Race: The American Transformation of Group Categories, 1890-1910
Vanessa Grisales, Early Childhood Education (Concentration: History), ‘23
Mentor: Kiersten Greene, Teaching & Learning
Transinclusive Education in K-12 & Educator Preparation
Jeffrey Kitchen, Chemistry, ‘22
Alice Rojas, Geology, ‘23
Julia Cannizzo (rising sophomore award), Geology, ‘24
Mentor: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, Geography
Trace Element (TE) Contamination of Kale by Atmospheric Deposition in Urban Community Gardens (UCGs)
Jake Pennisi, Mechanical Engineering; Digital Design & Fabrication, ‘23
Mentor: Kevin Shanley, Engineering
Agilus-30 Permeability and Its Role in Water Filtration
Matthew Pisano, Computer Science, ‘22
Mentor: Jaiung Jun, Mathematics
Jacobians of Graphs and Related Topics
Annabella Russo, Sociology, Criminology Concentration, ‘23
Mentor: Anna Gjika, Sociology
Rape Victims on Trial: Digital Evidence in Sexual Assault Proceedings
Canis Speranza, Biology-Psychology, ‘22
Mentor: Miles Wilklow-Marnell, Chemistry
Biological Effects of Betulinic Triterpenoids Derived from Native Birch and Sycamore Barks
Danielle Takacs, Biology, Organismal Track, ‘23
Sam Mustafa (rising sophomore award), Environmental Biology, ‘25
Mentor: Kara Belinsky, Biology
A Bird’s-eye View of How Wildlife is Affected by Development in the Hudson Valley
Carolyn Weinstein, Geography, History & Political Science, ‘23
Mentor: John Sharp, Geography
Breaking Barriers at Land Grant Institutions: A Historic Geography
Harel Yosef, Mechanical Engineering, ‘24
Mentor: Mahdi Farahikia, Engineering
Nature-Inspired Flow-Sensing Microphone Technology
SURE 2021 Showcase
To learn about the 2021 SURE projects, please visit its Symposium site.
