Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

How to Apply

Requirements

• Sophomore- or Junior-level standing undergraduate student at the time of application. Applicants may be Senior-level as long as they do not graduate before completing a full academic year in the URCA program.
• Must have and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above at the time of application and the entire length of participation in the URCA Associate program. This is a firm requirement (e.g., close GPAs, like 2.9 or 2.99, will not be rounded up) 
• Conduct research or a creative project in the student’s major or minor field of study. Must have a full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty mentor in that area 
• Maintain adequate progress toward the completion of the URCA project and attend URCA-sponsored events/workshops. 
• Enrolled as a full-time student at SIUE (minimum 12 credit hours) for the entire length of the participation in the URCA program
• Obtain necessary clearances/permits (such as with IRB, Animal Care, Hazardous Material or field sites) BEFORE beginning research or creative activity; this is likely the responsibility of the Associate and the mentor

Proposal

Proposal Due Date: March 29, 2024

All URCA Associate applicants are required to write a proposal and submit BOTH electronic and hard-copy submissions of the student's proposal and cover/application page, which contains original signatures. 

The URCA Board meets in April to evaluate proposals for the next academic year. Selected students begin to work on their projects during the semester/fall semesters and finish in the spring. 

URCA Associate Proposal Application Guidelines - a comprehensive guideline to help prospective Associates understand the guidelines of an Associate proposal.

Below are headers used in proposals:

1. Cover/Application Page (with signatures)
   • Word Form Cover Page -  Your cover page will require the signatures of your Department Chair and Dean. These are very busy people whose work often takes them off-campus. Don't wait until the last minute to obtain these signatures, or you may find they will not be available to sign for you! Please plan accordingly to have your application complete and signed by the deadline. (You may need to make an appointment with your Department Chair and Dean to get their signatures.)
2. Abstract
3. Introduction and Significance
4. Literature Review
5. Hypothesis
6. Materials, Procedures, Timeline
7. Budget Justification
8. Reference Pages

Samples

URCA Associates come from nearly all disciplines on the SIUE campus. Presented below are a variety of proposals that received funding in recent years. These model proposals are available as a resource for future URCA Associate applicants, as well as to demonstrate the full breadth of URCA Associates and their research. 

If you are interested in submitting a URCA Associate proposal, take time to view several of the ones presented below, even those outside of your discipline, to get a feel for the variety of ways that they can be written. Pay particular attention to budgets and timelines.

Important Note: Keep in mind that these proposals should serve as samples of successful URCA Associate proposals, and not as templates for new applicants. 

• Sample 1
• Sample 2  
• Past URCA Associate Projects

Rubric:

After proposals are submitted for the URCA Associate Program, the URCA Board evaluates each one on its merit for funding. Proposals are assigned primary and secondary reviewers, and board members carefully scrutinize these submissions. At the meeting in which proposals are evaluated, the primary and secondary reviewers present their comments to the entire URCA board. Board members vote individually on each proposal. However, board members may not vote on proposals from their own departments or for which they are serving as faculty mentors. 

URCA Associate Proposal Application Rubric [pdf]