Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

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Application

Application deadline for the year 2023 funding was December 9, 2022 at 4pm CST.

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) is soliciting applications from faculty mentors of promising undergraduate students at all Louisiana universities and colleges. UROP, established in 1992 by the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program (LSG), offers the Louisiana undergraduate community funding to support hands-on research experiences in marine and coastal resource issues. Previously funded projects have dealt with topics such as coastal ecology, fisheries, aquaculture, environmental engineering, and genetics.

Approximately seven projects will be funded depending on funds available for the 2023 project period (March 2023 to December 2023); each faculty member will receive up to $3000 to cover student wages, supplies, and necessary travel. As part of the 2023 UROP experience, undergraduate student researchers and their mentors will take part in the national Sea Grant Community Engaged Internship (CEI) program. Participants will have the opportunity to interface with a national network, access to professional development opportunities, and more. Both student wages and academic credit may be earned concurrently if the policies of your institution allow this practice. Faculty mentors of full-time undergraduate students at Louisiana colleges and universities are eligible to submit applications.

Applications must demonstrate the proposed project’s connection and benefit to Louisiana’s coastal communities. We encourage applications from individuals and institutions serving groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.

A UROP proposal is limited to a three-page narrative. Tables, graphs, and references can be attached in the Additional Documents section and are not included in the three-page limit. Any proposal narrative that goes over the three-page limit will be disqualified.

The narrative portion must include the following information:

• Project background and description: Describe the proposed UROP project and how it aligns with Louisiana Sea Grant’s mission and strategic plan.
  • What do you expect to be the project accomplishments and benefits to both the scientific community and end-user communities of Coastal Louisiana?
  • In particular, is it anticipated that the proposed project would benefit underserved communities in Coastal Louisiana (even if the expected outcome will require additional work to achieve impacts)? Underserved communities may be underserved because of geographic location, racial and ethnic status, and/or other special needs (such as language barriers, disabilities, alienage status or age).
• Research approach: Succinctly describe the rationale for the UROP project, its proposed objectives and research approach.
• Role of the UROP student: Include a description of the UROP student’s role in the project and his/her working relationship with the faculty mentor(s).

**A UROP application must be submitted by a faculty member. Students should not submit the application but are encouraged to work with their faculty mentor in developing the application.

Applications will be evaluated based upon the following review criteria:

• Are the methods and rationale for the proposed research appropriate?
• Does the proposal have a clearly stated objective that is achievable within the given constraints of time and resources?
• Does the proposed research align with Louisiana Sea Grant’s mission and strategic plan and demonstrate a clear connection and benefit of the proposed project to both coastal and/or marine science and the communities LSG serves (i.e., the potential for end-user application of the results of this proposed research), and overall, materials submitted suggest that this application will benefit individuals or communities that have been historically underserved?
• Is the role of the student clearly described in the application and will the student have adequate support (budgeted and/or non-budgeted), as well as a unique opportunity to experience state-of-the-art methods for sampling, measurement, and analysis?

Applications will be accepted until 9 December 2022 at 4:00pm CST.

A written final report of research accomplishments and findings, developed by the student in collaboration with their faculty mentor, is required. The UROP final report should include the following: Title page (with authors and date), abstract, introduction, methods and results – i.e., the typical scientific reporting or publishing format. The results section must include the significance of the research, considering not only the scientific value but societal implications as well. We will accept peer-reviewed papers or theses for this requirement. Since the peer review process takes time, a preliminary report can be submitted and then follow-up with a published paper when the manuscript is accepted for publishing. We do not accept posters as a fulfillment of UROP report requirements. Students are encouraged to present their findings at university forums in addition to state, regional, national and international conferences. Louisiana Sea Grant may provide limited travel funds to UROP students to attend these events should a student’s abstract be accepted for presentation.

Submit an application via our online eSeaGrant system.
NOTE: If you are having difficulty with the link, copy and paste the following URL into your browser — www.laseagrantdb.org

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