FOR ADVISORS’ INFORMATION: CURA Application re-opened!
The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) in the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Academic Programs is pleased to announce the re-opening of the application for the AY 2020-2021 Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award (CURA). Information for applying for a CURA for the current academic year can be found at https://cura.uic.edu/information-for-faculty/.
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The Chancellor's Undergraduate Research Award (CURA) is administered by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) to support undergraduate involvement in research and other creative and scholarly activities across campus.
The CURA program is intended to both assist UIC faculty members in the completion of research, scholarship or creative production and to provide a rich and rewarding educational experience for the student employee. You can read more about the program at https://cura.uic.edu/.
CURA supports faculty who work with students who have demonstrated financial need.
For AY 2020-21, a student can potentially qualify for a Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award (CURA) through one of two funding sources:
- The Federal-Work Study (FWS) Program
- The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER)
Faculty interested in sponsoring an undergraduate student as a student research assistant through the CURA program are asked to complete a brief (i.e., four-question) inquiry form to determine whether a student is CURA-eligible for AY 2020-21. The form can be accessed at https://cura.uic.edu/information-for-faculty/
Using the information provided in the inquiry form, the Office of Undergraduate Research will coordinate with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to determine if the student is eligible for FWS or GEER funding. The Office of Undergraduate Research will then contact the faculty member to share whether or not the student qualifies for funding support for the CURA program. If the student qualifies, a link to an online CURA application will be included in the correspondence to the faculty member.
Awards are available for one semester or the entire academic year. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis in the order in which they are received. Each faculty member may apply to support up to three CURA students during an academic year. CURA is not intended to be combined with other major campus-based research funding programs such as LASURI, Honors College research grants, etc., other than to the extent that such awards will meet additional expenses unmet by CURA.
Applications will be accepted until the fall CURA fund is depleted. A spring semester application cycle will open in November.
UIC students will be reminded to search in the UIC Undergraduate Research Experience database to find faculty supervisors and mentors. If you have not done so, please register yourself and your project(s) here: www.ure.uic.edu. If you are already registered, be sure your profile is up to date. You can mark your profile as active if you are returning from a leave or inactive if you are temporarily not recruiting students. Please do not remove your profile entirely unless you are leaving UIC permanently.
If you are interested in working with a student who does not have Federal Work-Study or who does not qualify for the GEER funding, have the student speak with an academic advisor or Director of Undergraduate Studies to find out about options for course credit or other funded or sponsored programs in the degree-granting college. For possibilities for earning course credit in connection with conducting research, you can also refer undergraduate students to the following webpage: http://ure.uic.edu/for_students_credit.php or they can email the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uic.edu.
If you have questions of your own, please feel free to email us at our@uic.edu.
Thank you for your participation in the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, which contributes in a multitude of ways to positive educational outcomes for our students