UIC Researchers: Apply for AY 2018-2019 Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award (CURA)

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) in the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Academic Programs is pleased to announce that that the application for the AY 2018-2019 Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award (CURA) remains open. The CURA supports faculty who work with students who have already accepted Federal Work Study as part of this coming year’s financial aid package. CURA is administered by the OUR to support undergraduate involvement in research and other creative and scholarly activities across campus. You can read more about the program at https://cura.uic.edu/.

To participate in the CURA program, you will need to identify the work-study student(s) with whom you are interested in working. Then complete the online application at https://cura.uic.edu/information-for-faculty/. It is also helpful if you speak now with the Business or HR Manager in your department about your intent to hire a student employee.

Awards are available for one semester or the entire academic year. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis in the order in which they are received. Each faculty member may apply to support up to three CURA students at a time. CURA is not intended to be combined with other major campus-based funding programs such as LASURI, Honors College research grants, etc., other than those that will meet additional expenses unmet by CURA.

Applications will be accepted until the fall CURA fund is depleted or the end of the fourth week of the fall semester, whichever comes first. A spring semester application cycle will open in November. Thanks to the backing of university leadership, last year CURA funded approximately 100 student-faculty collaborations at no cost to faculty or their departments.

In the upcoming days, all UIC students will be reminded to search in the UIC Undergraduate Research Experience database to find faculty supervisors and mentors. If you have not done so, please register yourself and your project(s) here: www.ure.uic.edu. If you are already registered, be sure your profile is up to date. You can mark your profile as active if you are returning from a leave or inactive if you are temporarily not recruiting students. Please do not remove your profile entirely unless you are leaving UIC permanently.

If you are interested in working with a student who does not have Federal Work Study this year, have the student speak with an academic advisor or Director of Undergraduate Studies to find out about options for course credit or other funded or sponsored programs in the degree-granting college. You can also refer them to this webpage: http://ure.uic.edu/for_students_credit.php or they can email our@uic.edu.

If you have questions of your own, feel free to email us in the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uic.edu. Thank you for your participation in the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, which enhances the student experience and contributes in a multitude of ways to positive educational outcomes for our students.

For more information, please contact:
James Lynn
jlynn@uic.edu