CURF Grants for Research

ASPIRE - Advancing Student Projects in Research Excellence

Purpose

To support student-led, faculty-mentored research at the College of Information, Data and Society. 

Proposals are encouraged from student-faculty teams at all levels, including undergraduate and graduate students. The evaluation criteria are designed to accommodate diverse forms of scholarly engagement appropriate to different academic levels and disciplines. 

Distribution

  • Two (2) grants will be awarded, $4,500 each.
  • The time period is one academic year. 

Criteria

Grant proposals will be judged according to the following criteria:

  • Project potential for peer-reviewed scholarly output and scholarly impact (25%)
  • Budget utilization (25%)
  • Mentoring and potential for impact on student researchers (25%)
  • Impact on RSCA productivity (25%)

Application Process

  • Proposal must be co-authored by a CIDS faculty member and a CIDS student. The faculty member will serve as mentor and oversee the writing and submission of the Proposal.
  • One-third of the grant will go to the faculty mentor ($1,500); two-thirds ($3,000) will go either to student research assistant wages and/or to support research expenses that make the students’ proposed research work possible. This might include software licenses, equipment, participant compensation, survey costs, and/or conference travel for the lead presenter. The Proposal must include details in its budget and justification in the budget narratives.
  • Projects must involve one or more student-researchers who may or may not be paid from the $3,000 portion of the CURF Grant. Sample research scenarios:
    • Project does not require capital purchase or travel, and funds are used for ~150 hours of student researcher time.
    • Project requires the purchase of hardware/software for conducting user research, at a cost of $3,000. Student research assistants learn to use the device and actively conduct research under the named faculty mentor; they are unpaid but receive course credit. 
  • Co-publishing or presenting in a peer-reviewed venue by the faculty mentor and student(s) is an expected outcome. Student researchers are expected to take lead authorship/presentation roles on scholarly outputs commensurate with their contributions to the project.

Proposal Narrative

The proposal narrative must include:

  • Problem statement.
  • Research objectives and intended outcomes.
  • Research design and methodologies.
  • Budget, including a budget narrative supporting each budgeted item.
  • Project timeline, with key deliverables.
  • Evaluation plan (how the project’s success, reliability, and impact will be measured).

College Presentation Requirement

Faculty and student researcher(s) must present their research during the College Faculty Research Presentation Series, Student Research Conference, or the like).  

Student research(s) will share research experience

  • Lessons learned (opportunities and challenges)
  • Plans for future research

CIDS Advancing Student Projects in Research Excellence (ASPIRE) 2025-26