Undergraduate Research Fellowships

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All Central Washington University undergraduate students who are admitted to degree programs may apply for a fellowship to offset expenses associated with faculty mentored research/creative activity.

The maximum amount available per project is $500.00.

There are three opportunities during the school year for students to apply for Research Fellowships:

Students should develop proposals in collaboration with their faculty mentor(s). Fellowship recipients are required to present the results of their proposed research activities at SOURCE which is held annually each May. For more information about SOURCE please visit the website at http://www.cwu.edu/~source.

Each student who is applying for a fellowship must submit their own application; group applications are not accepted. The Undergraduate Research Advisory Committee will evaluate the applications and decide whether to provide full, partial, or no fellowship based on the individual merit of each application. Students will be notified of the outcome as quickly as possible after each deadline.

There are a limited number of research awards and only meritorious proposals will be funded.

To apply, send the original and 8 copies of the complete application to:

You may also deliver the application package in person to Peggy Hill in Barge 305.

A complete application consists of the following:

1. Completed cover page. Click here to download the cover page.
2. Typed abstract of the project (not to exceed 150 words).
3. Typed project description of three pages or less (double spaced, 12 point font) that includes:
   • project goals and objectives
   • relationship to previous research/knowledge in the field (literature review)
   • clear statement of methodology/research design
   • timeline of research/creative activity for successful completion of the project
   • anticipated results
   • plans for dissemination
   • Click here to see a sample abstract and project description.
4. Detailed budget and budget justification, including costs of supplies and materials, equipment, and other relevant costs. For each item, include actual cost, amount requested from the Undergraduate Research Advisory Committee and amount requested or received from other sources. All equipment and unused purchase items remain the property of Central Washington University. Click here to see a sample budget.
5. Written and signed endorsement from your sponsoring faculty member. Mentors should write a letter to the committee that includes the following information. Failure to address all of the points indicated could result in a reduction in the score of the student's proposal, and possible reduction of funding.
   • a statement of the mentor's willingness to work with the student;
   • a justification of this willingness based on : (a) the student's prior work and abilities, (b) benefits of the research to the student's educational experience, (c) how well the proposed work will contribute to the mentor's on-going research;
   • an explanation of why funds are needed from this source if the faculty member is funded from other sources or a statement of lack of funding from other sources, and
   • a verification of the mentor's willingness to help the student to prepare results for submission of oral presentations, posters, and/or manuscripts.
   Click here to see a sample support letter. Please note the explanation of why funds are needed is a new requirement of the letter; therefore, this sample letter does not include this component.
6. If applicable, all relevant documents for human/animal subjects clearance. No fellowships will be disbursed for any project requiring clearance until all paperwork is completed and approved.

Incomplete applications will be returned without review. It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that the application has all the required elements.

For Research Projects Involving Live, Vertebrate Animals:
Research proposals must be approved in advance by the Animal Care and Use Committee. For more information and forms, go to http://www.cwu.edu/~iacuc/.

For research projects involving human participants:
CWU is required by the federal government to follow strict guidelines when human subjects are involved in research projects. For the purposes of the undergraduate research application, human subjects research is considered to be studies that use: (a) data collected through interventions, interactions, or observations with human participants (e.g., surveys, interviews, testing, or observational procedures); and/or (b) existing data sets containing any personal information (e.g., medical records, educational records, voting records). For more information, go to http://www.cwu.edu/~hsrc/. To receive funding for projects involving human participants, each student must follow the guidelines described at this web address. Early contact with the Human Subjects Review Committee office is advisable.

Please note that a student may APPLY for a fellowship prior to approval of human subjects review, but no fellowships will be released until approval is received. Please be aware that human subjects review and approval must be obtained prior to initiating your research; the Human Subjects Review Committee cannot approve studies retroactively. There will be no exceptions.

Important Fellowship Information
Effective July 1, 2006, Undergraduate Research and Travel fellowships must be spent by the end of the fiscal year in which they were provided. The CWU fiscal year ends June 30th. All fellowships not spent by the end of the fiscal year will revert back to Graduate Studies and Research. Should a student require an extension, he or she can either re-apply in one of the next year's opportunities for applications (October 31st, January 31st or April 15th) or seek an extension on a case by case basis. If students receive a fellowship after they have expended funds for the travel or project, they may be reimbursed for those expenses for which they have kept receipts.

Expenditures are limited to those items detailed in the original proposal. Any significant changes to the proposed budget must be approved in advance by Graduate Studies. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Natalie Lupton (luptonn@cwu.edu), 963-2064. Or contact Peggy Hill (hillp@cwu.edu).

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