CURS Grant Call For Proposals

Important Information for Faculty Mentors

• Faculty may submit proposals for Materials or Travel requests, but may not submit more than one proposal per round. For travel funding, faculty must be traveling with a student to collect data or present scholarly work.
• Faculty are required to submit a mentorship philosophy. Your mentoring philosophy explains how you approach mentoring relationships and should serve as the guide for your mentorship experience. Please see this guide from Indiana University.
• Faculty research projects must be submitted to the CURS Undergraduate Research Opportunity Portal by August 31^st /January 31^st to be reviewed for CURS funding.
• Documentation of research courses (ex. CURS 2990, HONR 3990H, or Department 4990) for students and faculty is required to receive funding. CURS abides the add/drop deadline set forth by the Registrar’s Office. Students need to email curs@augusta.edu to be registered for a CURS course.

 

Important Information for Students

• Students may submit proposals for Travel requests (no Materials requests) and may not submit more than one proposal per round. The student is expected to write this proposal. Faculty may provide feedback or guidance but should not write the proposal . Proposals copied from published abstracts or that are obviously written by faculty will be rejected. Student projects must have a faculty advisor or mentor to be considered for funding.
• **NEW for AY25**If two or more students are traveling to the same location to present or conduct research each student will submit their own grant proposal. Any shared expenses such as lodging should be clearly explained in the Budget Justification section of the application. Each student should submit their own Travel Authorization Form which states all travel costs. AU expects responsible financial stewardship. Only one person may be reimbursed for a given receipt, thus shared costs are the responsibility of the travelers.
• Documentation of research courses (ex. CURS 2990, HONR 3990H, or Department4990) for students and faculty is required to receive funding. CURS abides the add/drop deadline set forth by the Registrar’s Office. Students need to email curs@augusta.edu to be registered for a CURS course.

 

Record of Undergraduate Research Participation

Undergraduate(s) must be enrolled in an undergraduate research course within the home department, CURS, or the Honors Program in order to be reviewed for CURS funding. These courses are denoted by the number 2990, 3990 or 4990, or HONR 2999H, 3900H, 3999H, 4000H. CURS abides the add/drop deadline set forth by the Registrar’s Office. Students need to email curs@augusta.edu to be registered for a CURS course.  

 

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS:

The proposal will be submitted through Microsoft Forms. CURS highly recommends that you work in a Word document first and transfer your answers to Forms when you are ready to submit. Applicants can review the evaluation rubric and tips for grant preparation on the CURS website. Read Carefully and follow the instructions; failure to follow instructions may result in your proposal being rejected automatically.

Travel Grant Proposals. The following sections are required within the proposal form:

1. Research Project Title (10 word max; Capitalize Each Word)
2. Research Project Description and Significance: Explain the scholarly activity and the objectives of the activities in such a way that undergraduates and faculty reviewers outside your discipline can understand the purpose and significance of the project. 
   • Project descriptions should be between 300 and 350 words.
   • Faculty, your project must be submitted to the CURS Undergraduate Research Opportunity Portal by August 31^st /January 31^st or your proposal will not be reviewed.
3. Start and End Date of Travel Research Activity. Please note that funds MUST be dispensed in the semester requested; if you are traveling in the spring but requesting funds in the fall, please wait until the spring to submit your proposal.
4. *New for AY25* Itemized Budget:
   • TOTAL Request for LODGING
     • Example answer for independent student: I will be going to a conference in Atlanta for 3 days and 2 nights. I am not sharing a room, and my total hotel estimate is $289.00 for two nights. My answer to this question is: $289.00
     • Example answer for three students traveling together: I will be going to a conference in Dallas for 5 days and 4 nights. I am sharing a room with two other people, and the total hotel estimate is $1056.00 for four nights. I will be paying for 1/3 of the total hotel cost. My answer to this question is 1056/3: $352.00
   • TOTAL Request for TRANSPORTATION
     • Example answer student driving: I will be going to a conference in Atlanta for 3 days and 2 nights. I am driving using my own car. The trip to Atlanta and back is 290 miles. I can request up to $0.67 per mile driven. My answer to this question is 290 X 0.67: $194.30
     • Example answer for students driving together: I will be going to a conference in Atlanta for 3 days and 2 nights. I am NOT driving and riding with a friend. My answer to this question is: $0.00
     • Example answer for student flying: I will be going to a conference in Dallas for 5 days and 4 nights. I am flying to DFW from AGS, and my estimated flight cost is $411.00 My answer to this question is: $411.00
   • TOTAL Request for REGISTRATION
     • Example answer: I will be going to a conference in Atlanta for 3 days and 2 nights. The conference registration costs $75.00. My answer to this question is: $75.00
   • TOTAL Request for ANY ADDITIONAL COSTS. Itemize any additional costs, excluding food, not included above.
   • Total Funding Request from CURS (max $1,000). Sum the total from the previous four questions.
5. Travel Authorization: Complete an Augusta University Travel Authorization Form . AU Travel information and Single Day and multi-day forms can be found here. Under the "Supervisory Approval Authorizing Travel and Campus Absence" the supervisor for students is the faculty mentor; the supervisor for faculty is the Department Chair.
6. Budget Justification: Clearly articulate the importance and use of the funding in regard to the research. If the travel expenses can be modified to reduce costs (e.g., in the case we cannot fund a full proposal), please describe or communicate your priorities.

 

Materials Grant Proposals. The following sections are required within the proposal form:

1. Research Project Title (10 word max; Capitalize Each Word)
2. Research Project Description and Significance: Explain the scholarly activity and the objectives of the activity. Write for an interdisciplinary audience. It is incumbent upon the applicant to articulate the importance to reviewers, regardless of their disciplinary background. An inability to articulate the significance will reduce your proposals' competitiveness. 
   • • Project descriptions should be between 300 and 350 words.
     • Faculty: your project must be submitted to the CURS Undergraduate Research Opportunity Portal by August 31^st /January 31^st or your proposal will not be reviewed.
3. Total Funding Request from CURS (max $1,000). Please note that funds must be expensed by the fiscal year deadlines and follow all AU purchasing policies.
4. Budget & Budget Justification:
   • • Budget List: Itemize all expenses. Multiples of the same product (e.g., paint brushes, pipets) may be listed as one item. Budgets without itemization will not be reviewed.
     • Justification Narrative: The justification should clearly describe the importance and use of the items in regard to the research. If the research can be conducted with only some of the materials (e.g., in the case we cannot fund a full proposal), please describe.
5. Plans for Dissemination: Describe your plans for scholarly dissemination with your undergraduate student.

 

Submit a CURS Grant Application