UIC Researchers: A limited number of Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards (CURA) are available for the Spring 2019 term

The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce that a limited number of Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards (CURA) are available for the Spring 2019 term.

CURA supports undergraduate involvement in research and other creative and scholarly endeavors across campus.

So far this year, almost 100 undergraduates who were eligible for, and accepted, Federal Work Study received this award, which employs eligible students at no cost to faculty or departments. The awards available for spring will be granted on a rolling basis in the order in which applications are received and approved by the faculty review committee, up to the point that CURA funds remain available.

As a reminder, to participate in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards program, you should identify a student with whom you are interested in working and check with the student to confirm that the student has a Federal Work Study award for the current academic year with remaining funds; the next step is to complete the online application form on the URE website.

The program funds available for the spring term are less than those for the fall term, so we encourage you to apply within the next several weeks. The most direct route to the application information and the application itself (via a link at the top of the page) is here:  https://cura.uic.edu/information-for-faculty/

Also, note that because students are in the process of searching the URE website to find faculty research advisors, please be sure your profile is up-to-date on the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) website: www.ure.uic.edu.

Finally, we wanted to send some clarifying information for researchers who are currently working with an undergraduate student who has already received a CURA during the current academic year. Almost all CURAs that have been awarded to date have been full-year awards, i.e., for both fall and spring semesters. [There are a small number of “fall-only” CURAs, but those tend to be for students who graduated after the fall semester.] Please note that if the student(s) you are currently sponsoring has/have a full-year CURA, no other action needs to be taken to continue to work with the student(s) for the spring term. The spring CURA opportunity, however, can be used to fund student research experiences for students with whom you are not currently working.

If you have questions, feel free to email us at our@uic.edu.

Thank you for your participation and support of undergraduate research at UIC, a high impact experience with documented positive effects on student learning, satisfaction and future prospects!

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