Psychology Research and Travel Funding Awards

https://www.cur.org/who/governance/divisions/psychology/studentawards/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=InformZ&_zs=x72wb&_zl=Pb1m2

The CUR Psychology Division is offering a limited number of research (e.g., supplies or expenses) or presentation (travel/conference registration) awards for undergraduate students conducting original psychological research (up to $400 per project). Eligibility Criteria

• The student must be an undergraduate at either a two- or four-year institution. If the student is a graduating fourth-year student, the presentation must be completed within three months of fall graduation or by June 15 for spring graduates.
  • If you are requesting funds for travel, you must check that your institution allows travel before applying. We cannot support travel that is not sanctioned by the home institution.  Note that travel rules have changed at some institutions due to the COVID19 pandemic.

• The students' mentor must be a CUR member, or the students' home institution must be a CUR institutional member.  Please reference the Member Directory.  
• The student(s) must be the primary investigator(s) on the project (e.g., honors project, student-directed independent study, etc.).

• If the research results in a publication or presentation, award recipients are required to acknowledge CUR for support of their research in their talk, poster, or paper.

• Award recipients are required to submit a short synopsis of their research experience in either written or video form. How have you grown as a scholar as a result of participating in this research experience?  Submit the synopsis here.  These synopses may later be placed on the CUR website for promotional purposes.

 Application Procedure An electronic application form must be completed by the student applicant (one application per project). The student needs to request a letter of support from the faculty mentor.  Both documents must be received by the deadline for full consideration of the submission. The faculty mentor should email the letter of support to the CUR National Office and include "Psychology Student Research Award" in the subject line.  In the letter, the faculty mentor will need to address the following: 

• the role of the student(s) in the project’s development; 
• the impact of the research on the student(s) during his/her/their undergraduate training; 
• the estimated timeline of the project; 
• verification that the student’s itemized breakdown of the requested funds is realistic; 
• a list of other sources of funding currently available for the proposed project;
• and mailing address for the faculty mentor, should the research project be chosen for funding.

 Selection Criteria: Research award recipients will be chosen based on the responses provided to each question, as well as the scholarly merit of the research plan. The description of the research plan should be written for a general psychology audience – please do not merely upload a conference abstract.  The description should contain the following information:

• An abstract (150-250 words long)
  • containing the study’s OBJECTIVE;
  • a description of the METHODS;
  • expected RESULTS;
  • a statement of SIGNIFICANCE;
• A statement (150-250 words) explaining how the student’s work contributes to DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (e.g., underrepresented minority researchers, research topics that include diversity and inclusion);
• A statement (150-250 words) explaining the STUDENT(S)’S ROLE in the research;
• A statement (150-250 words) indicating how the research experience contributes to his/her/their LONG-TERM GOALS;
• A statement (100 words) explaining how the award will allow the student(s) to PARTICIPATE more fully in research; and
• An itemized breakdown of the FUNDS.  If the project will cost more than $400 (the maximum of the CUR award), please explain the source(s) of the remaining funds.

Please note that while multiple applications from the same lab/mentor will be accepted, we will typically only fund one per lab/mentor in an application year.  Additional funding per lab may vary based on total overall number of applications for the year.

For details on the scoring of applications, visit the online rubric.

The deadline is November 1, 2021. 

Questions? Please direct questions to the Chair of the CUR Psychology Division, Dr. Karen L. Gunther.