The Office of Undergraduate Research promotes and supports undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activities in all academic disciplines. Undergraduate Research is one of the "High Impact Practices" strongly encouraged by education experts and offers students an experience that will make an enormous difference in their career paths and lives.

Our Office provides Undergraduate Research Fellowships and Undergraduate Travel Fellowships to Central students and hosts the annual Symposium On University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) at which students can present their work.

Deadlines and Dates:

• Applications for Undergraduate Research and Travel Fellowships are accepted on the following dates during the year: October 31, January 31, and March 1.  **PLEASE USE THE NEW APPLICATION PACKETS FOR 2013**
• SOURCE 2013 will be held on Thursday, May 16, in the Student Union and Recreation Center on campus and at dates to be announced later at the university centers.  The website to submit abstracts for presentations will open in March and close in early April.

Office of Undergraduate Research News:

• The International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression is accepting submissions. The online journal is co-sponsored by Central Washington University and Pacific University and welcomes the submission of research articles, fiction, poetry, photography, video, and other creative works from all academic disciplines.
• Our Office of Undergraduate Research is a proud member of the Council on Undergraduate Research.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has just released a 62-page report on the “Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research,” or COEUR. Taken from the French for “heart,” the COEUR report can be read as a call to action for U.S. baccalaureate programs, which face growing demands that they show students how classwork and research experiences combine to support their career goals.

The U.S. research enterprise was once the exclusive domain of elite research universities, postdoctoral institutions, and federal and industry laboratories. Over the last 20 years or so, however, there has been a growing awareness that research doesn’t start at the end of a student’s postsecondary career, but at its beginning. This shifting focus has drawn attention to the high-quality research that contributes to a comprehensive undergraduate experience.

It has always been taken for granted that the role of undergraduate education was to produce functionally literate workers who could manage and lead our nation’s core industries. With its COEUR report, CUR has articulated in the clearest possible terms that research can now be seen as a core competency goal for undergraduate institutions. AASCU provosts will hear more about the COEUR report at AASCU’s 2013 Academic Affairs Winter Meeting in Point Clear, AL.