1. CURCA Funding Opportunities curca@ung.edu

2. CURCA Supports UR and Creative initiatives across all campuses Workshops & information CURCA Ambassadors CURCA mini-grants FUSE Program

3. CURCA mini-grants Up to $3000 Applications in October (?) Generally spans a year Money generally used for supplies, although it can also fund student workers, travel for research, etc. Do not include faculty stipends – materials only.

4. CURCA Mini-Grants Plan must include: – Undergraduate participation – Intended dissemination – Budget – Timeline – Past CURCA funding results – Significance of project

5. Ideas for Mini-Grants Pay for student researchers to participate Fund travel to research sites with students Fund costly supplies for research – Biological supplies (combine!) – Computer software Great for lab materials.

6. What is the Faculty-Undergraduate Summer Engagement (FUSE) Program? Allows faculty mentors to work intensively students on a research project in the summer Spans eight weeks All groups meet together 3-4 times Students work up to 40 hours/week (negotiable)

7. Funding 6-7 different research groups are expected to be funded Compensation: – $4000 / professors – $2500 for students *Funds can be split between multiple professors or students

8. Frequently asked questions Can I teach during FUSE? – Faculty may teach; however, a faculty member’s FUSE and summer teaching pay may not exceed 27% of their yearly salary. Can more than one student work on the FUSE project? – Yes, but they have to split the 2,500 stipend. This is due to budget limitations. More than one faculty can also participate on the same FUSE project, but they also would have to split the 4,000 stipend.

9. Frequently asked questions Is FUSE limited to the sciences? No! In fact, most FUSE participants have been from outside the sciences.

10. Frequently asked questions How can I tell if my project is appropriate for FUSE? – If the project follows the following definition of UR: “An inquiry or exploration conducted and disseminated by an undergraduate student that makes an intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline and to applied practice.”

11. Frequently asked questions How can I tell if my project is appropriate for FUSE? – students play a pivotal role in the project. – Involvement is intellectual as well as physical – Students are deeply engaged/immersed. – The products of the project will contribute to the scholarly field (local, regional, national).

12. Frequently asked questions How often must we meet? – Mentors should be available and willing to mentor the student on a weekly (daily, even) basis. – Please plan for what’s appropriate for your discipline. “touch base” once a week or more infrequently, depending on the rate of progress. plan to meet with students frequently enough to provide timely feedback.

13. Frequently asked questions But in my scholarly field, mentors and mentees don’t meet on a daily basis! What should I do? – Please plan for what’s appropriate for your discipline. – The important thing is that you make it obvious in your proposal that you have a mentoring plan, and that this plan develops your student as a budding scholar and collaborator.

14. Frequently asked questions How are FUSE proposals rated and ranked? – Committee composed of faculty representatives from every school reviews them – Ranked using a rubric – The Committee provides numerical scores as well as qualitative comments. – Proposals with the highest scores are funded. Proposals must be written in lay terms and for a general audience, so all reviewers can understand the project.

15. Frequently asked questions So if I can’t include every last detail of my research project on the proposal, WHAT do I need to include? – give a general idea of the research project and the significance of the project to the field (enough detail to show seriousness of project) – be specific about how students will be engaged to further the project – be specific about the timeline of the project, and the timeline of mentorship – include the potential products of the project See request for proposals and rubric for more detail on what to include

16. Differences between Mini and FUSE Mini- GrantFUSE No StipendIncludes Stipend $3000 for materials$500 for materials MIGHT fund studentDOES fund student Completed over academic yearCompleted in 8 weeks in summer Extended time periodTruncated time period Meetings not requiredRequired meetings (3-4) *Both require post-grant report as well as student research presentations at ARC or other venue.

17. Remember You need to write the proposal to the scoring rubric. You need to write the proposal in easy-to- understand terms. It also helps to convey enthusiasm and commitment for the project and UR. If you have a record of UR engagement and commitment, flaunt it.