All undergraduate students with a major in a Krieger School discipline are eligible to apply for URSCA grants and fellowships. Individual grants and fellowships sometimes have additional eligibility criteria, which are listed in their descriptions on the URSCA Grants and Fellowships page.
URSCA uses a single application for all grants and fellowships. Applicants select their preferred award, but will be considered for all awards for which they are eligible.
The application cycle for URSCA awards is such that you apply in the winter for funds you will use over the summer and proceeding academic year. For this reason, current seniors are not eligible for URSCA awards except the Meg Walsh Award, which is for use after graduation.
You may not apply for funding for a project that has already been supported by an award from another Hopkins office (e.g., HOUR, Sheridan Libraries) in the same year. You may apply for a related project, but priority is given to students who have not yet had the opportunity to conduct funded research.
Ready to start developing your project ideas? Please see our Getting Started page for guidance.
Self-enroll in our Canvas course, Undergraduate Research Resources, for further information and guidance.
Requirements
URSCA grants and fellowships are not simply monetary awards; they are research programs that provide support and oversight for your independent project. Recipients of URSCA grants and fellowships are required to complete a series of assignments throughout the award period, and to participate in select programming.
Assignments
All URSCA awardees submit a research report each month, and a budget update each semester/summer. At the end of the award period, all awardees submit a final research paper, as well as a poster or slide deck, which they present at the annual URSCA Symposium in the spring.
In addition, URSCA awardees complete a series of assignments designed to keep them on track throughout the award period, and to give them opportunities for feedback as their project progresses. These include an annotated bibliography, an outline, and an abstract, among others.
Programming
URSCA staff offer a series of workshops and conversations throughout the academic year to support researchers’ progress. Sample topics include:
- The Mentoring Relationship
- Time Management
- Budgets and Financial Recordkeeping
- Research Ethics
- Marketing Your Research Experience
- Navigating Academic Conferences
- Publishing Your Research
University Fellows engage with these topics through Peer Mentorship Clusters, which are small groups of fellows working in similar fields who provide mutual support throughout the program. The clusters also provide opportunities for works-in-progress presentations and collaborative workshopping.
Research Ambassadorship
URSCA awardees function as ambassadors for undergraduate research at Hopkins. All awardees are asked to support their peers in pursuing research and applying for funding by helping to staff URSCA drop-in hours and by speaking on panels in URSCA’s Undergraduate Research Week. Additional opportunities often arise on a volunteer basis, such as tabling at an event, presenting to sponsors, or being featured in various JHU news outlets.
Program Policies
When awarded an URSCA grant or fellowship, you will sign an award agreement that outlines the terms of your award. This document is updated annually; a sample of some of the terms are below:
As an URSCA awardee you agree to:
- Identify a faculty mentor and have them sign the Mentor-Mentee agreement to establish mutual expectations.
- Maintain a primary major in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences (for all awards except Albstein).
- Attend all mandatory meetings and events.
- Submit a research report once a month, and submit other assignments as required.
- Turn in a final product to URSCA at the end of your award period. Typically this will be a 10-page paper, but creative projects may take other forms, as approved by URSCA. University Fellows submit a 20-page paper or equivalent creative project.
- Publicly present your research at the URSCA Symposium or the University Fellows Symposium at the end of your award period.
University Fellows additionally agree to:
- Maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and maintain the minimum number of credits each semester. If your GPA falls below a 3.0, or you do not maintain the minimum number of credits, you forfeit access to your funds. If this happens for three semesters in a row, you will be removed from the program with the right to appeal.
- Dedicate at least two summers of full-time research to your UURF project. A full-time summer is considered a minimum of 10 weeks where 35 hours per week are spent on the research project.
Additional policies are as follows:
Awardees who graduate a semester early must complete their project before they graduate, and cannot access award funds after the last day of classes of their graduating semester.
University Fellows who need five years to complete their bachelor’s degree may continue in the University Fellows Program throughout all five years as long as they are in good academic standing.
Students in a BA/MA degree program are considered fellows only as long as they are undergraduates. In typical BA/MA programs, the second year a student enters the program is their fifth year at Hopkins. At this point, the student becomes a full-time graduate student and is no longer eligible for undergraduate research funding.
The director of URSCA reserves the right to rescind an award if they determine that the awardee has not been making satisfactory progress or is in violation of the award agreement.