OUR Mentors Newsletter: October 2024

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

Details on events and deadlines can be found in subsequent sections of this newsletter.

• October 23, 2024 - AAD Faculty Initiated Research Grant (FIRG) Application Deadline
• October 30, 2024 - First-Year Fralin Undergraduate Research Fellowship Application Deadline
• November 11, 2024 - Undergraduate Research Showcase on the Capital Application Deadline
• November 18, 2024 - Biotechnology Summer Research Fellowship Call for Projects Application Deadline

Calls for Proposals & Projects

1. Undergraduate Research Faculty Grant Program

Faculty grant program is now available to scale undergraduate research! The Undergraduate Research Faculty Grant Program will provide a handful of grants of up to $10,000 to individual faculty, teams of faculty, or departments, to facilitate the development or support of novel programs that aim to scale and increase access to undergraduate research opportunities for VT students.

• Proposals are due November 4^th at 8pm.
• More information available on OUR website.

2. Biotechnology Summer Research Fellowship Call for Projects

Virginia Tech's Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is excited to announce the introduction of a brand-new summer research program funded by generous donations to the Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI). Funds will provide fellowships for up to 12 motivated Virginia Tech undergraduates to conduct full-time research in the general area of Biotechnology between May 27 and August 1, 2025, inclusive.

Faculty and local Biotechnology companies are invited to submit projects for selected students to work on during Summer 2025. For more information, visit the Biotechnology Research Fellowship Program Project Submission Form.

3. AAD Faculty Initiated Research Grant (FIRG)

The College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD) has established the Faculty Initiated Research Grant (FIRG) program to support AAD faculty research and creative scholarship.

For FY25, two funding tracks are made available to AAD faculty:

• Track 1: SEED AAD will provide SEED funding to faculty projects that will result in future research proposals for external funding. We anticipate issuing 3 SEED awards with budget limits of $5,000. 
• Track 2: Mini Grant AAD will provide funding to faculty for project costs and activities that foster career advancement. We anticipate issuing 10 awards with budget limits of $1,500.  

More information and application instructions can be found on the FIRG webpage. Applications are due October 23, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

Student Opportunities

1. First Year FURF Student Applications

The First-Year Fralin Undergraduate Research Fellowship (FY-FURF) Program will provide first-year students—who are new to research—with authentic research experiences in their chosen discipline, under the direct mentorship of a faculty member. Students from all majors are encouraged to apply.

• More information can be found on the FY-FURF information webpage.
• Applications can be submitted through the FY-FURF application form.
• Applications are due October 30, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

Please encourage first year students to apply.

2. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000. More information can be found on the Graduate Research Fellowship Program webpage.

3. Undergraduate Research Showcase on the Capital

The Undergraduate Research Showcase at the Capitol is a unique opportunity for undergraduates to share their research and creative scholarship with state legislators and help them to understand why funding undergraduate research experiences across the Commonwealth is so important. We invite YOU to share your research.

• The showcase will be on February 6, 2025, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the General Assembly Building in Richmond, VA.
• Travel and food provided for the showcase

Application deadline is November 11, 2024.

More information and application instructions can be found on Showcase on the Capital Webpage.

Other Resources

1. NURVa Mentorship Opportunity

The Virginia Academy of Sciences is seeking to help students through providing an outreach program in which mentors recruited from the Commonwealth’s colleges, universities, and research centers work long-term with students in high school classrooms on a research project of local interest.  These mentorships are individually designed between prospective mentors and middle/high school instructors for the needs of their specific class, and mentoring may be done both virtually and in-person.  

If you might be interested in serving as a mentor in this project, please fill out the interest form.

2. OUR Presentation Requests

Want to have representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Research present to your class or student group? Fill out the OUR presentation request form with two weeks’ notice, and we’ll have a representative ready to discuss our services, how to start research, and how to find funding opportunities.