What is a URCA Associate?
Working with a faculty mentor, URCA Associates will lead their own research project or creative activity and be the principal investigator in their project. Associates will work continuously for both the fall and spring semester to complete their approved URCA project. The Associate will submit a proposal and be selected by the URCA Board in the spring semester and conduct the project the following academic year. Guidelines for the proposal can be found here. These students will receive a $2000 award, and the department will receive funding to purchase materials for the student's project. Associates will be expected give presentations about the URCA to unergraduate classes on campus and attend monthly URCA Associates meetings.
Associates:
- Lead an independent project
- Manage the project budget
- Receive guidance from a faculty mentor
- Participate in the URCA Symposium
Benefits:
- $2000 award for the academic year
- $500 for materials related to the project
- $400 in travel to present research or creative activity (Travel Fund Application
) - Opportunity to work closely with faculty mentor
- Opportunity to develop scholarly relationships with other URCA Associates
- Development of leadership skills
- Opportunity to publish project results in professional journals
The following are requirements of all URCA Associates in the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) Program at SIUE:
- Must be of sophomore- or junior-level standing at time of application. Applicant may be senior-level, as long as he or she will not graduate before completing full academic year in URCA Program
- Must have/maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above
- Must be conducting research or a creative project in the student's major or minor field of study, and must have a faculty mentor in that area
- Must maintain adequate progress toward the completion of the URCA project and attend URCA sponsored events/workshops
- Must be enrolled as a full-time student at SIUE (minimum of 12 credit hours) for entire length of participation in the URCA Program
- Must obtain necessary clearances/permits (such as with IRB, Animal Care, Hazardous Material or field study sites) BEFORE beginning research or creative activity
- The Associate's project will be conducted in the fall and spring of the upcoming year. Funding may be received to begin the project as early as July 1st of the year the proposal is submitted and accepted. The project should reach completion in March the following spring.
For more information on the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Program, contact Dr. Laura Pawlow at (618) 650-2608 or lpawlow@siue.edu.
