Student Resources and Awards

To promote collaborative projects between student researchers and faculty/ staff mentors, the Student Research Award (previously known as the Undergraduate Scholarly Award) program supports the scholarly activities, research, and creative endeavors of students from across all academic programs. We also value professional development in research and the grant writing process, which we promote through our review and submission process. Scholarly Research Awards  support the research, creative, and scholarly activities of graduate and undergraduate students. Students can use the funds to offset the cost of travel to collect data or present results of their work. In addition, funds can be used to purchase supplies for the project. These funds are meant for students who do not have other means. Students sponsored through faculty grants should use those funds.

Grant Review Process:

• Please submit applications at least 30 days before support is needed. For international travel, please submit at least 60 days before travel dates.   
• An initial decision will be made after the proposal is reviewed by the FGCUScholars Leadership Team between 7-10 days after it is received.
• Initial decision will either be: Supported or Rejected.
• Depending on Status:
  • Supported proposals will receive confirmation email and grant details.
  • Rejected proposals may have the opportunity to resubmit.
    • The student and faculty mentor will be contacted by the Office of Undergraduate Scholarship with an evaluation of the proposal and suggestions for improvement for resubmission. This is a required part of the grant drafting and learning process.
    • Please have the student email the resubmission to the Office of Undergraduate Scholarship email (ous@fgcu.edu) with the Faculty Mentor cc’d on the email.
    • Final grant decisions are pending the submission of the revised grant proposal and final review by the FGCUScholars team. Only 1 resubmission will be accepted.
• Distribution of Awarded Funds:
  • Contact the our Office (ous@fgcu.edu) or the grant coordinator (sluaces@fgcu.edu) to determine how funds will be distributed.
  • For travel, you must contact OUS and file the necessary travel documentation at least 7 days before traveling, otherwise we cannot distribute funds. Feel free to visit our office in Edwards Hall 214.
  • Research trips require a community presentation or symposium as part of the data collection.

Submissions: Rolling deadline – submit at least 30 days before support is needed. Travel funding requests submitted within 7 business days of travel dates will not be considered. 

Award: up to $750

• Funds must be used within the academic year that the proposal was submitted. Please contact ous@fgcu.edu if requesting support for July and/or August.
• Any travel support will need university approval. We all must abide by the university- and state-guidelines as they pertain to COVID-19 and any other considerations.
• We will consider additional support if there are mitigating circumstances. Please reach out directly.

Eligibility:

All FGCU students are eligible to apply for this initiative. At least one student and the mentoring faculty/ staff must apply jointly. 

• Mentoring Faculty/Staff: If you have multiple students working on the same or overlapping project(s) that will need similar materials, please submit only one application. We will adjust the maximum amount of the award if applicable and appropriate.
• For Conference or Research Travel involving multiple students: Students traveling to the same location for a conference or research project should combine their expenses and plan on traveling together. 
• Funds are limited. As a result, we want to benefit the most students for their scholarly efforts and activities. Your assistance will be greatly valued. Feel free to reach out for assistance if we can help you develop the proposal.

WiSER Eagles (Work in Scholarly & Experiential Research) is a program in which undergraduate students work with faculty on a scholarly project and participate in weekly professional development opportunities, including meetings and activities organized by the Office of Scholarly Innovation and Student Research. By the end of the last semester worked, students must submit a short report describing their experience and will present their scholarship at an on-campus forum. Workers in this program must be eligible for Federal Work-Study to be hired.

Find available positions on Eagle CareerLink!

The LA program promotes partnerships in active-learning classrooms that enhance student learning through inquiry, improving student success and skill development. Participating faculty and LA undergraduates complete experiences that develop pedagogy skills and active-learning strategies.

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The Communities in Transition initiative supports faculty-student-community member partnerships in a way that creates rich and meaningful research and service opportunities, and allows FGCU to take a leadership role in statewide and region-wide enhancement or advancement efforts. Proposals should be focused to Southwest Florida and the Caribbean region. 

Faculty teams are invited to submit community-engaged research proposals that will undertake site-based research during the summer semester. Each project may comprise between 1-3 faculty. Faculty Project Leaders will work with supporting offices to select up to 6 students that may participate in this community-engaged research. 

Projects may come from any academic discipline, and interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged. Eligible research projects may explore not just the impact of change or disturbance, but may also document how communities respond to transitionary events. All projects must design and embed meaningful and sustainable service initiatives within their project so that supported faculty and student scholars help natural and human communities in these locations.