Office of Undergraduate Research
E-mail: our@cwu.edu
Grants from the Office of Undergraduate Research are competitive—we cannot fund everyone that applies. The information on this page will help you prepare a proposal that has a good chance.
We are happy to talk with you about your grant application. You can:
Although you will submit your application online, you can download a PDF of the application to prepare your materials.
Talk with your mentor well in advance of the deadline and discuss whether or not you should apply. Discuss what would be in your project description and your budget. Make sure your mentor knows that they will have to write a letter of support for you.
If you are part of a group, select one student to take the lead on submitting the application, and make sure that the student has everyone's first and last name and CWU email address.
The application includes significant written components in addition to information about you, your mentor, and budget. These written sections take time to prepare well.
For grant proposals, you need to prepare a project description (up to 3 pages, double-spaced, 12-pt font): Please include the following sections:
Timeline for completion of your project, including plans for presenting your work
Beyond these required items, your project description should include any additional information to explain the project goal(s): What you hope to achieve. The important thing here is to be realistic. The committee does not expect you to install a 100-foot sculpture for $500.
Notes:
A well-considered budget is a very important part of your proposal. Please show real, total costs in your budget. Although the amount of funding you can receive from the OUR is limited, the budget should accurately reflect all of your expenses.
Put your budget together using a spreadsheet (template and example provided below).
Your budget should include:
Your budget justification helps us interpret your budget. It describes why you need what you've asked for, and how you calculated the costs. The budget justification should be written in paragraph or bullet list form or a combination of the two.
A letter from a faculty mentor, or from the director or other personnel at the conference, residency space, or research setting that vets your participation or plans to participate. This may include a letter of invitation or acceptance, and/or a letter denoting scholarship funds or fellowship designation as a member of this working community of artists. Talk with your mentor and make sure he/she/they know what they need to do. The letter should be specific to you and your project, written on letterhead, and needs to be submitted alongside the other required documents in the application. The goal of the letter of support is to indicate that this conference, research trip, or other experience is a valid experience for this student’s field of studies/ ongoing projects.
It is the responsibility of the student(s) applying to obtain the letter of support from their mentor and submit it in the application. Your application will not submit without the letter of support being uploaded.
CWU Names Brandy Wiegers as New Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research April 29,
New OUR Program CoordinatorThe Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) welcomes Erin Cone as the new Program Coordinator. Erin c
New OUR Graduate Staff AssistantThe Office of Undergraduate Research welcomes Brooke Writer as the new Graduate Staff Assistant. Bro