Nevada System of Higher Education
The Nevada NSF EPSCoR
Academic Year 07-08
NSF-EPSCoR UG Research Awards
Downloads:
Cover Page - Budget Form
I. Introduction
In August 2005 the National Science Foundation, through the EPSCoR program "Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research", funded a $13.5M grant (including $4.5M match from the State of Nevada) to improve the research infrastructure in Nevada.
The project, award no. 0447416, is directed by Dr. G. Dana. Click [here] to view the Award Abstract.
One of the focal areas in this grant is undergraduate research with Drs. M. Saiidi and J.Farley as the area leaders. Through this project approximately $1.5M is spent to fund and expand undergraduate research opportunities in NSHE over a three-year period.
The grants will provide students majoring in math, science, engineering, and education funds to carry out research under the direction of a faculty mentor during the academic year and summer.
II. Program Description and Instructions
A. Program Solicitation
The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) announces a program to promote undergraduate research.
Eligible students must be undergraduates either majoring in mathematics, science, or engineering, or majoring in education and specializing in teaching K-12 in the fields of mathematics, science, or technology.
Research will be conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR), the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), or the Desert Research Institute (DRI). As part of the application process, students are required to identify a faculty mentor with whom they are interested in conducting research. Students may access the institution's departmental websites to identify faculty engaged in the area of research that matches student's interest. Potential faculty mentors list may also be viewed at http://www.nevada.edu/epscor/mentor.html, but faculty mentors are not limited to those listed.
Approximately 25 competitive awards will be made to successful applicants who will conduct research from October, 2007 through May, 2008. Students will be selected based on a statewide merit-based review.
Interested students need to discuss the research plan with their faculty mentor prior to preparing the proposal. Undergraduate research often leads to longer-term collaboration between students and faculty. Students receiving the undergraduate research grants often perform publishable research and become well prepared to pursue advanced degrees.
Proposals to conduct research as part of current or past NSF-EPSCoR funded projects are encouraged. Visit the Nevada EPSCoR web site (http://www.nevada.edu/epscor/projects.html) for a list of the projects. Proposals are especially encouraged from members of under-represented groups.
B. Eligibility
Students at all Nevada institutions are eligible. Women, members of other underrepresented populations are especially encouraged to apply. Awards are made only to fulltime students enrolled in an NSHE institution: UNLV, UNR, NSC, CCSN, GBC, TMCC, WNCC, or the Sierra Nevada College.
Awards can only be made to U.S. citizens and US Permanent Residents.
Applicants must be full-time students majoring in an undergraduate degree program in math, science, engineering, or be undergraduate students majoring in education and specializing in teaching K-12 in the fields of mathematics, science, or technology.
Applicants must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Students graduating in December 2007 are ineligible for this competition.
C. Award Information
Compensation and Expectations:
The program provides student recipients with a salary of $12/hour for an average of 40 hours per month for up to 8 months
Each mentor will receive $950 which must be spent to support the research project.
Each student must prepare a paper and present it at the Nevada Undergraduate Research Symposium (NURS) to be held in April 2008. The presentation shall be in the form of an oral presentation or a poster, the details of which will be provided at a later date. This program is funded by the NSF Grant EPS-0447416, and the grant must be acknowledged on any posters or publishable papers as a result from this program.
For the safety of participants, students whose research will include laboratory/field work will be required to attend a safety class. Details will be provided to participants.
D. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions
General Instructions:
- All the required documents must be combined into a single PDF file and emailed to the address shown below. In the "subject" line of the email submission, enter:
“EPSCoR Academic: [last name, first name initial]”
For example, when Tom Rodriguez submits his proposal, in the e-mail subject line he would type: ”EPSCoR Academic: rodriguez, t”.
Format restrictions:
- One inch margins
- Single spaced
- Font – Arial 11 or larger
Required Documents:
- Cover Page: (Click here to download)
A completed and signed cover page, scanned into PDF will be the first page of the proposal.
-
Project Description (limited to 2 pages):
The project description must consist of ...
- Abstract (60-70 words),
- Introduction,
- Objectives,
- Plans for research,
- Timetable, and
- Plans for dissemination of results.
The proposal must be understandable to reviewers outside student's major field of study.
-
Personal Statement (one page):
Describe your ...
- Academic background,
- Scientific interests,
- Any past research experience, and
- What you hope to gain from the research experience.
- Support Letter (one page):
Provide a letter of endorsement from the supervising faculty mentor that describes her/his level of involvement in the project. Scan the letter and include in the proposal.
- Transcripts:
Scanned official transcripts are preferred, but a scanned “unofficial” copy, downloaded from your University’s website as a pdf document, will be accepted.
- References/Citations:
Literature references and citations may be included and will not count toward the two (2) page limit for the project description.
- Budget: (click here to download)
This budget is for informational purposes only and shows the maximum amount each student will have the capacity to earn.
*** Potential applicants with questions regarding this program should contact the Program Leaders Dr. Saiid Saiidi at UNR (ugresearch@unr.edu) or Dr. John Farley at UNLV (farley@unlv.nevada.edu).
III. PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA
The review and selection process will include a review committee comprised of members from the UNR, UNLV, and DRI. All reviewers will read each applicant’s submitted materials and consider the following criteria:
- Demonstrated a level of academic preparation and excellence in the form of GPA, appropriate coursework and/or other measures that would predict success in a research experience.
- Proposed to work on a research project in the area of science, engineering, math, technology, or K-12 education in these fields.
- Provided evidence of other background experience and/or extracurricular activities which would help predict success in a research experience.
- Clearly articulated his/her motivation to participate in this program.
- Provided a strong letter of support by a faculty mentor.
Has each applicant …
Each applicant’s reasons for seeking participation in this program will be taken into consideration, as well.
Each student’s submission must be sent as a single *PDF document. Proposals received without any of the above required information will be returned. Completed applications need to be e-mailed and copies sent to: nshe-spo@nevada.edu. |
IV. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION, AWARD NOTIFICIATON, AND TIMELINE
A. Submission: By 5 p.m. October 8, 2007
If you have any questions concerning the proposal or its submission, please contact Ms. Alice Ward in the NSHE Sponsored Programs Office by Phone: 702-862-5593 or E-mail: nshe-spo@nevada.edu
B. Demographics
Applicants for the award will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin and/or physical impairment. All applications are judged on the merit of the proposal.
All awardees Nevada EPSCoRwill be required to provide NSF specific demographic information after the review/selection process is complete. This information will be requested for data purposes only and will be provided to NSF in the annual report.