The Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards

Purpose:  The University of Virginia's 2008 Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards program funds outstanding undergraduate research projects to be carried out in the summer of 2008 or the 2008-2009 academic year. Approximately forty awards of up to $3000 each will be
granted on a competitive basis to current first, second, and third-year undergraduate students. Applicants must be fulltime undergraduates at UVa and must remain enrolled at the University through the completion of their project.

Faculty Support: Working in collaboration with a University of Virginia faculty member, each awardee will plan and implement a substantial and significant research project. The student applicant is encouraged to identify and meet with a faculty sponsor to discuss the proposed project before the end of fall semester. The faculty sponsor will write a letter in support of the student's proposal. The faculty sponsor of a Harrison Award winner will write and submit a brief narrative assessment of the student's project upon its completion. Harrison Award faculty sponsors receive an honorarium of $1000. Faculty who do not wish to claim an honorarium should so indicate at the time the student applies. Foregone honoraria will be added to the funding pool available for student awards.

Conceptualizing a Project: Applicants are urged to think creatively in designing their research projects.  Proposals focusing on any of the undergraduate fields represented at the University will be considered. Applications that integrate different areas and approaches are encouraged. Projects might involve travel, either within or outside of the U.S., to take advantage of resources that would be otherwise inaccessible to the student. Projects requiring laboratory work might call for the purchase of equipment that could not be obtained without an award of this kind.

Final Product:  In the course of carrying out a research project, an awardee will be expected to create a bibliography of relevant background materials, read and research the topic, establish contacts with professionals in the field, produce a final product (e.g. final paper, creative project,
presentation) that summarizes his or her findings. Students receiving Harrison Awards in spring 2008 must use their award funds by the end of May 2009 or forfeit the remainder. Final projects must be submitted to the Center for Undergraduate Excellence in March 2009 along with the faculty sponsor's brief assessment and a brief report from the student accounting for expenditure of award funds. Students should be prepared to present their projects in the spring, and their advisors will also be expected to attend.

Applying: Current first, second and third-year undergraduate students who wish to apply for a Harrison Award must submit three copies of the following materials:          

1. Application form (Download PDF)
2. A clear, concise description of the proposed research project (maximum 1 page, single-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font). The applicant should explain what is to be done, where the research will be carried out, and what will be the final product. The applicant also should indicate what impact the research project will have on his or her intellectual development and how the project relates to any ongoing research program the student has (such as a Distinguished Majors thesis).
3. Undergraduate transcript
4. Two letters of recommendation (one being a letter of support from the student's project advisor). The advisor should explain the basis for concluding that the student is capable of completing the project at a high level of quality.
5. An itemized budget of anticipated expenditures (half a page maximum), including travel, living expenses, research supplies, and materials.
6. A list of relevant coursework
7. Relevant prior experience
8. Project implementation time line