Council on Undergraduate Research

CUR Dialogues February 25-27, 2010

• Colleges, universities and individuals share a focus on providing research opportunities for faculty and students at undergraduate institutions

• Guided by the premise that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduates in research

CUR Dialogues

What is research?

Group Exchange

• What was your experience of research as an undergraduate?

• Describe a transformative research experience.

• Why was this experience transformative?

• How did involvement in research affect your academic path?

Group Exchange

• Don’t try to compete with “big research”

• Take a long term view: start small and write often

• Participate in consortia

• Utilize expertise of a specialized/technical development officer

• Establish departmental and administrative support protocols

Competing for Funding

“Diversity Cupcakes” by Flickr member clevercupcakes

Opportunities

“Diversity Cupcakes” by Flickr member clevercupcakes

Diversity

By Flickr user jon hanson

Impact

By Flickr member Robert Scoble

Agility

Collaboration

By Flickr user Arbogast Inn

Online Guide to Today’s Talk

Reflection

In an ideal world,

I would conduct research on . . .

Fundable Moments

“Aerotech Metalstorm” by Flickr member jurvetson “Rocket Mavericks’ Maiden Flight” by Flickr member jurvetson

FIPSE Comprehensive Program

“. . . innovative reform projects that promise to be models for improving the quality of postsecondary education and increasing student access.”

FIPSE Eligibility

• Academic and administrative

• All disciplines

• Potential foci: access, retention, preparation, curricular reform, etc.

• Not generally for basic research - “action-oriented”

Funded FIPSE Projects

$600K (4 years)

$624K (2 years?)

Funded FIPSE Projects

$598K(3 years)

$599K (4 years)

Applying for FIPSE Funding

• Meet all published criteria

• Establish significance and a clear capacity to enhance secondary education

• Demonstrate potential for sustainability after FIPSE funds are exhausted

• Propose modes of dissemination (include letters of commitment from outside participants)

• NOTE: Invitation priority is NOT important

TUES Program

TUES Program Eligibility

• To improve the quality of science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students

• All institutions

• Supports creation of curricular materials, developing faculty expertise, implementing educational innovations

Funded TUES Programs

~$200K (3 years)

~$150K (2 years)

RDE Program

RDE Program Eligibility

• Supports projects that increase the participation & achievement of people with disabilities in all fields of STEM education & associated professions

• Assess educational, social and pre-professional experiences that influence disability related differences in student interest, academic performance, retention in STEM programs, STEM degree completion and career choices

• All institutions

STEP Program

STEP Program Eligibility

• Focus on retention and/or recruitment of undergraduate students into STEM fields

• All U.S. institutions and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) that offer either associate or baccalaureate degrees in STEM

• Implement pedagogical approaches such as active learning strategies, effective materials, financial incentives for students entering & persisting in STEM

Funded RDE & STEP Programs

$200K (1 year)

$2M (3 years)

Successful NSF STEM Proposals

• Improve the quality of STEM education for all undergraduates

• Measurable outcomes (Qualitative and/or quantitative assessment) of student learning & achievement

• Supports interdisciplinary & interinstitutional projects

• Demonstrate project sustainability

• Plan methods of transferability & dissemination

Ithaca College –March 31- April 2, 2011

• Dedicated to promoting undergraduate research

• Sponsors an annual conference for students from all disciplines

• Graduate school and employment opportunities

NEH Grants

• National Endowment for the Humanities– grants supporting

research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

NEH Programs

1. Summer Stipends

2. Summer Institutes/Seminars

3. Faculty Research Awards– Full time research fellowships– Teaching development

fellowships

4. Collaborative Awards

1. Summer Stipends• What

– Up to $6K for two months of full-time independent study and research.

• 1200 awarded in 2009

• Who– Applicants nominated by their institutions.– Tenured/tenure track only

• Outcome:– Scholarly articles, a monograph, a book, a site

report, a translation, an edition, or a database.

Sample Summer Research Funded

• Chiang, Connie Young Bowdoin CollegeNature Behind Barbed Wire: An Environmental History of the Japanese Internment

• Coffey, Mary Pomona CollegeTracing the Ghost of Colonial Experience in 19th Century Spanish Literature

• Finkel, Stuart University of FloridaThe Political Red Cross: A Voice for Political Prisoners in Early Soviet Russia

2. NEH Summer Seminars/Institutes

• What– Summer opportunities for college teachers to

study humanities

• Who– “teachers of American undergraduate

students.”– Adjunct and part-time lecturers

2010 Summer Seminars

• The Aesthetics of British Romanticism, Then and Today

• The American Civil War at 150: New Approaches • Brazilian Literature: Contemporary Urban Fiction • Aristotle on Truth and Meaning • Descartes, Galileo, Hobbes: Philosophy and

Science, Politics and Religion During the Scientific Revolution

• Free Will and Human Perfection in Medieval Jewish Philosophy

• Philosophical Perspectives on Liberal Democracy and the Global Order

2010 Summer Institutes (4+weeks)

• Teaching the History of Political Economy • Ritual and Ceremony from Late-Medieval

Europe to Early America • Native Cultures of Western Alaska and the

Pacific Northwest Coast • Mapping and Art in the Americas • Cultural Hybridities: Christians, Muslims, and

Jews and the Medieval Mediterranean

3. Faculty Development Fellowships

Full Time Fellowships

• Grants for individuals to pursue research that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to public understanding of humanities during a longer term.

• Awards are 4200/month for 6-12 months of full time work.

• Award recipients must work full time on their projects.

- Teaching assignments not allowed

- This can be appealed if it presents hardship to institution

Sample Projects

• Project 1: A full-time project for twelve months ($50,400) to conduct archival research in Paris on the development of jazz in Europe.

• Project 2: A half-time award over eighteen months (the equivalent of nine months at full time, $37,800) to document and analyze traditional folk medicine practices among community elders.

• Project 3: An applicant proposes a full-time award during two months in the summer ($8,400) to conduct research on local history to broaden the appeal of an American history survey course taught by the applicant every year.

Teaching Development Fellowships

• Teaching Development Fellowships (TDF) support college and university teachers pursuing research aimed specifically at improving their undergraduate teaching.

• To improve existing undergraduate courses.

• Awards of 3-5 months carry a stipend of $4200 per month. (Max: $21,000)– May work up to half time teaching while on fellowship

4. Collaborative Research Projects

• What: – Original research that because of its scope

or complexity requires additional staff or resources beyond the individual’s salary.

– FT or PT activities for 1-3 years.• Publication and presentation to public audiences

expected.

• Who: FT/PT faculty

Sample Collaborative Projects

• John Buridan’s Questions on Aristotle’s De Anima (On the Soul): A Critical Edition with an Annotated Translation Fordham University, Bronx, NYPreparation for publication of three bilingual Latin-English volumes, with a fourth volume of expository and interpretive essays. Outright Funds of $195,000 over a period of two years.

• The Annotated Translation and Analysis of a Lao Historical Work of Literature, Pheun Kham Thaung Luang Unaffiliated Independent Scholar, Bangkok, ThailandThe preparation for online publication of a French colonial period work written from a Buddhist perspective.Outright Funds of $105,725 over a period of two years.

NEH Evaluation Criteria

• The intellectual significance for humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.

• The quality or promise of quality of the applicant’s work as an interpreter of the humanities.

• The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project

• The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, dissemination

• The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project.

NEH Startup Grant

Dominican’s iPad Grant

Wrapping it Up