UVM Tower Logo

The University of Vermont

Honors College


January 22, 2008

TO:                  All UVM Undergraduate Students and Faculty

FROM:            Richard Galbraith

                        Chair, Research, Scholarship, and Graduate Education Committee       

                        S. Abu Rizvi

                        Interim Dean, Honors College

RE:                   URECA!  Undergraduate Research Endeavors Competitive Awards

This is a reminder that URECA! proposals are due by noon on February 1, 2008.  

URECA!, Undergraduate Research Endeavors Competitive Awards, is designed to stimulate undergraduate research with faculty mentoring. This student-faculty research program is designed to encourage students under the guidance of faculty mentors to incorporate research experience more fully into undergraduate education, and provide incentives for students and faculty who engage in meaningful research collaboration.

URECA! provides funding for research projects in all disciplines, including the humanities, the social sciences, and the physical and life sciences.  All full-time undergraduate students are eligible, and any member of the UVM faculty may act as a mentor.  Research projects that earn course credit are ineligible for funding unless it is unequivocally documented in the application that the proposed project will provide a research component beyond what would otherwise be done to earn course credit.

Students should submit an application cover page, a 2-3 page narrative describing the nature of their research project, budget information, their resume, an endorsement by the faculty mentor, and the faculty mentor's c.v.  The proposal may be an extension of an existing research project or one newly-developed for URECA!; students who have previously received URECA! funds must detail how the proposed research differs from and/or extends previously funded URECA! research.  Detailed information about the application process, including guidelines, is available on the web at       

http://www.uvm.edu/~provost/ureca/ . Proposals are due by noon on  February 1, 2008.   

Evaluation of proposals will be undertaken by the Faculty Senate Research, Scholarship, and Graduate Education Committee.  Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of quality, the value of the research experience for the student and the record of the faculty member.  Students selected for the program will each receive a $1,000 prize and research support up to $3,000.  A detailed budget with full justification of all requested research expenses is required.

While the Faculty Senate Research, Scholarship and Graduate Education Committee will evaluate the proposals and award the scholarships, the Honors College will administer the application process and oversee administration of the program. Any questions about the program can be directed to the Honors College at 656-9100.