Overview
A competition is held each spring within participating colleges for the University Scholars awards. The program will consist of a full summer of research, followed by continuation of the project during the academic year, under the guidance of a faculty member. Each scholar will receive a $2500 stipend disbursed in two phases: Mid-May ($1500) and mid-September ($1000). For more details on the requirements to receive the stipends and other expectations, see Current Scholars.
Application process
Up to 205 University Scholar awards will be made annually across the participating colleges. Students are not restricted to their own colleges in seeking out faculty mentors. Students should submit applications to their faculty mentors' departments by March 1. Students may apply for a second year of USP support, but preference will be given to those who have not previously held a USP award.
More information about specific college application requirements is available here
The 2008-2009 application is available here.
Find a mentor
1) Visit the web page of the college that has research related to your area of interest. Often there are faculty biographies on many of the web pages which detail what their areas of specialty are. This can help you narrow your areas of interest and finding a faculty mentor.
2) Contact the college contact or undergraduate coordinator for the department in which you are interested in doing research, for ideas or referrals.
3) Visit the Undergraduate Research database (link to). These projects are submitted directly by faculty who are seeking research assistance, but not all areas are covered. Don't be discouraged if your area doesn't have a lot of representation.
4) Look at the Journal of Undergraduate Research online. Profiles of current USP students and their project descriptions are listed.
5) Review the lists of previous participating faculty in the University Scholars Program. Each college's page may have more specific lists about areas of research and their interest in working with students in the USP program. The previous lists can give you some assistance.
6) Talk to any professor that you have had in class whose specialty area interests you. Their current or future research may provide you with an opportunity.
Goals and Expectations for 2008-2009 Scholars
1. Conduct research under the guidance, direction, and supervision of your faculty mentor during summer 2008, which may be continued beyond that time frame. The scope of the research project and the expectations your performance are decided between the mentor and the student. If the focus of your project changes, you will need to discuss those changes with your mentor.
2. Maintain a current e-mail account in order to get updates about the University Scholars Program. If you are not receiving any e-mail about USP, please e-mail Melissa Johnson at mjohnson@honors.ufl.edu.
3. Understand that any requirements set by your college are in addition to the university-wide requirements outlined in this document.
4. You will receive your $2500 stipend in two installments. This award includes a summer stipend of $1500 (disbursed mid-May) and a fall stipend of $1000 (disbursed in September). Your funds will be disbursed as a scholarship through Student Financial Affairs and may affect any financial aid that you receive; therefore, you may want to contact the Office of Student Financial Affairs to review your financial aid package.
5. Please sign up for Electronic Funds Transfer on ISIS to receive your stipend, if you haven’t done so already. If you do not sign up for EFT, please make sure your local address stays current on ISIS. Otherwise, you may not receive your check when it is mailed to you. If you are an international student, you will have to work with your faculty mentor’s office manager to complete the appropriate paperwork through Tax Services to receive your funds.
6. You must be registered for at least one credit at the University of Florida during Summer A or C to receive your summer stipend. No exceptions. These credits can be a course you are taking or undergraduate research credits; all that matters is that you are a registered student during Summer A or C. Some colleges require that you register for specific research credits; otherwise, you are eligible to register for IDH 4917 undergraduate research credit. Please see http://www.honors.ufl.edu/forms/idh4917.pdf.
7. To receive your fall stipend, you must complete a project description and scholar profile and get your photo taken by August 1, 2008. The project description form is available at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/forms/jurprojectform.html. The profile form is available at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/forms/jurprofileform.html. Please contact Buffy Lockette at buffy@clas.ufl.edu with any questions regarding these requirements.
8. Faculty mentors will be contacted at the end of the summer to evaluate the scholar’s progress and efforts towards the completion of the University Scholars project. Scholars who do not meet minimum efforts according to their mentor’s assessments may be given a financial hold and required to return the stipend.
9. For the culmination of research, scholars are expected do the following:
- Submit a paper to the Journal of Undergraduate Research http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/ for possible publication or publish in another appropriate journal. This paper should be completed by May 2, 2008, if possible, and submitted to the editor of the journal, Creed Greer, at cgreer@ufl.edu.
- Present the results of the research at the University Scholars Symposium on February 29, 2008.
- If the student does not complete a paper or present at the symposium, a final report is due that outlines the challenges and successes of the research project. This paper must be submitted and approved by the faculty mentor. This final report is due to Melissa Johnson, 29 Tigert Hall, by May 2, 2008.
10. Students not fulfilling the culminating requirement in #9 can expect a financial hold on their academic record and may be required to repay the stipend for not completing the University Scholars Program.
