Research awards and funding

The Urdea Undergraduate Research Awards fund interdisciplinary projects between students in the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering and the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences. Teams of 2-5 students may apply to receive up to $5,000 to support their work.  Learn more about the Urdea Undergraduate Research Award.

This annual award recognizes NAU undergraduate and graduate students who have made an extraordinary effort to enhance the culture of sustainability on the NAU campus and surrounding community. Read more about the Henry O. Hooper Sustainability Cash Prize.

This annual grant funds student-designed projects in all disciplines. Learn more about HURA.

The award will be made annually in the Spring Semester with a committee assembled by the Office of the Vice President of Research and the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute (PMI). All NAU undergraduate students involved in hypothesis-driven scientific research and with promise for future research careers are eligible. The award may be split up to 3-ways or not awarded at all in any particular year. It is recommended that the final disposition be made after the spring UGRAD symposium to allow the committee the potential to engage with the candidates.

Letter of application. Students must apply by describing their undergraduate research experience, contributions, and their desire to continue in a scientific research career. This must be contained in a 2-page (or less) letter format using 12 point font. This letter, with supporting documentation (see below) should be conveyed by email as a single pdf to the PMI administrative staff (PMI@nau.edu) and addressed to the Keim Award Committee. It should be signed and include contact information. Include the names of your two letter-writing mentors. The 2020 application must be received by midnight on March 1^st.

Two Recommendation Letters. Two confidential letters supporting the application should be provided by mentors directly to the committee by March 1^st. These letters should describe their professional collaboration, the student’s research experience, contributions, outcomes, and potential. They should be digitized into a pdf and sent by email to the Keim Award Committee (PMI@nau.edu).

Supporting documentation. Students are allowed to attach documentation of their research experience to the application letter. This could include research products such as scientific papers they have authored or co-authored, grant proposals they have written, abstracts of their research presentations, posters, awards, transcripts, CV’s, etc. There is no page limit to this material and it should be conveyed in pdf format and as a single file with the letter of application. Referencing the supporting material in the application letter is encouraged. This should be organized as the application letter followed by the supporting material.

Selection Criteria. This award is to reward excellence in research by NAU students during their undergraduate studies, and dedication to the pursuit of future research. The primary criteria will be evidence of research excellence and could include their description, scientific papers that they have authored or coauthored, research presentations they have made at conferences, grant applications, etc. Hypothesis driven research in particular will be valued. The secondary criteria would be their leadership potential for future scientific research and could include GPA, rigor of studies (e.g., course work), academic awards (e.g., Goldwater Scholar), their description of future career plans, etc. Evidence of active pursuit of future research opportunities is important (e.g., graduate school plans).

The Office for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity honors current undergraduate students and faculty mentors who have demonstrated initiative, productivity, and dedication in contributing to the university community in the areas of research, scholarly, and/or creative activities with the NAU Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Inquiry and Creativity. These awards will be honored at the Hooper Poster Presentations and Reception each April.

Visit these colleges to see what scholarship opportunities are available:

• Steve Sanghi College of Engineering
• College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences
• College of Social and Behavioral Sciences scholarships
• Department of History scholarships

The Center for International Education funds the Global Learning Research Scholarship. This scholarship is intended to support undergraduate student engagement in research activities that address the themes of global learning. Students are expected to propose research topics from any discipline but these topics must substantially engage with (or reflect dimensions that address) at least two of the three themes of global learning, and one of these themes must be global engagement.

The three themes of global learning include:

• diversity
• sustainability
• global engagement

Awards of up to $1,000 are available for NAU undergraduates conducting research that meets the criteria. Learn more about the Global Learning Research Scholarship.

I2S is a program designed to enable undergraduates, especially sophomores, to work as assistants on faculty scholarly, creative, or research projects in all disciplines. Interns are paid for participation. Find out more about the I2S program.

The NASA Space Grant provides research opportunities for full-time NAU undergraduate students. Through this program, students are able to conduct meaningful research that furthers NASA’s mission with the help of a mentor while getting paid. Learn more about the NASA Space Grant.

The OURCA Research Mini-Grants are designed to encourage research, scholarly, and creative activities between undergraduate students and faculty mentors. Undergraduate students may submit a proposal for a student-led research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor. OURCA Research Mini-Grants provide financial support up to $500 for consumable materials, training expenses, and/or travel expenses related to completing the project.  Learn more about OURCA Research Mini-Grants.

The purpose of RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) funding is to support and research activities that enhance the diversity of the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce. NAU proposes to increase the number of Native American and other underrepresented scientists prepared to enter PhD’s in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields specifically related to environmental health. This program uses the drivers of culturally-relevant support, hands-on research experiences, and a tailored curriculum to increase the number of underrepresented undergraduates who successfully proceed to a master’s degree and master’s degree students who progress to the doctoral level.

WREP at NAU provides student research in all fields related to environmental biology and resource management in the watersheds, riparian areas, streams, and rivers of northern Arizona. Find out more about WREP.