Undergraduate Research Grants

The Provost's Office is sponsoring a number of undergraduate research projects during the 2008-2009 academic year. Awards up to a maximum of $1,000 are provided to support student research such as purchase of supplies, software, reference books, or travel to research sites and to present work at professional meetings. Team research is also supported and, in appropriate cases, the award amount is larger than the single-student maximum. Students who wish to be considered should first discuss possible topics with their faculty sponsor.

Application Requirements

  1. Download and complete the application form (PDF)
  2. Prepare a 1-2 page project description that states what research problem you will work on and how and where you will carry out the project.
  3. Compile an itemized budget for the project.
    4. Areas that can be supported include:
    • Supplies and other research materials needed for the project
    • Travel to research sites including libraries; and
    • Travel/registration fees to present work at professional conferences.
    Note: Funds cannot be used for stipends.
  4. Obtain a letter of support from your faculty sponsor.
  5. Bring the project description, itemized budget, and letter of support to the Provost's Office (112 Hayden) c/o Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Susan Powers-Lee.

Rolling Submissions

In order to accommodate diverse types of research, applications will be considered when submitted, i.e., there are no submission deadlines. Selected projects will be announced within two weeks of proposal receipt.

Follow-Up Requirements

Students supported by this initiative agree to complete a final survey at the conclusion of the project. They should also provide a final summary to Executive Vice Provost Powers-Lee at the end of the project. The Provost's Office encourages all students supported by this initiative to consider presenting the results of their research at a campus-wide event such as the Arts & Sciences Experiential Education Expo held each spring.

2006-07 Grant Recipients

  • Carolyn Andrews, Electrical Engineering, Modeling Soft Error Recovery in Intel Microprocessors.
  • Mischa Bauermeister, Linguistics, Language, Gender and Power in the Courtroom.
  • Jason Bergeron, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Increased Data Storage Performance in a Virtual Environment.
  • Jennifer Berndt, Biology, Nurses� Perceptions of Disclosing Childhood Sexual Abuse during Psychiatric Treatment.
  • Nicole Bostock, Biology, Host-Pathogen Interactions.
  • John S. Brunhaver, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Algorithm for the Validation of On-Die Decoupling Capacitor in High Speed Micro-Processors.
  • Dennis M. Callahan Jr., Chemical Engineering, Growth of Carbon Nanotubes by Chemical Disposition.
  • Pamella Campellone, Speech-Language Pathology, The Effect of Rate Manipulation on Prosodic Cues in the Dysarthric Speech Signal.
  • Tom Jay Cinq-Mars, History/Spanish, Soviet Secrets and Spanish Blood: the NKVD in the Spanish Civil War.
  • Matthew J. Corbett, Geology, Taphonomy and Bioerosion of a Pliocene Coral Thicket from Virginia, Using Computer Based Area Analysis.
  • Corissa Abel, Melissa Blunt, Christine Doyle, Linda Evans, Mary Hughes, Kristen Lung, Lauren Smith and Kathleen Sta Rosa, Physical Therapy, Take Control with Exercise: An Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program.
  • Jason Crater, Chemical Engineering, Microfluidic Isolation of Skin Stem Cells.
  • Steven Criscione, Biochemistry, Transfer of the C208A Mutant for Human AP Endonuclease 1 into the CS2+ Vector.
  • Jeffrey Cumplido, Biology, Insertion of the Human Mutant Gene C310A into a Zebrafish Expression Vector.
  • Brittany Damon, Industrial Engineering, Active Learning vs. Traditional Lecture in Engineering Education: Finding the Balance for Motivation and Effectiveness Across Academic Levels.
  • Kelsey Diederick, Biology, Moving the C93A Mutant of Human AP Endonuclease into the Zebrafish CS2+ Expression Vector.
  • Stacey Donahue, Physical Therapy, A Mixed Method Study Comparing Cardiovascular Function and Anxiety in College Students with and without Mitral Valve Prolapse.
  • Rebecca Dufendach, History, A Study of Social Activism in Latin America.
  • Nathan Faber, Computer Science, Migration of Computing Environments Amongst Heterogeneous Hardware Environments.
  • Latasha L. Fermin, Psychology, Gap Detection: A Potentially New Clinical Procedure for Measuring Auditory Temporal Processing.
  • Kristen Flowers, Physics, A Search for the Stuekelberg Z� at Dφ.
  • Kelly Foley, Biology, The Role of Processivity Clamps in DNA Replication Under Conditions of DNA Damage.
  • Sean Frontier, Biology, The Role of Base Excision Repair in Zebrafish Embryos Before and After Fertilization.
  • Tamara Garcia, Philosophy/English, Addressing the Social Justice Problem for NBIC Technology.
  • Lisa M. Gilliland, Criminal Justice, The Punitiveness Project.
  • Chris Gonsalves, International Affairs, Globalization: Integration or Marginalization? A Study of Indigenous Communities in South Mexico.
  • Krista Hill, Psychology, Positive Illusions and Relationships.
  • Sarah K. House, Computer Science and Cognitive Psychology, Automatic Detection of Affect in Speech.
  • Whitney Jablonski and Jonathan Scrafford, Chemical Engineering, Investigation on the ASTM Method D-4824-03 for the measurement of Br�nsted acidity of catalysts by ammonia chemisorption.
  • Lianne Jacobson, Biochemistry, Developing an In House Binding Assay for the Estrogen Receptor.
  • Amy E. Kallmerten, Chemistry and Philosophy, Quantitation of Estrogens in Male Plasma Using Liquid Chromatography with an Electrochemical Detector.
  • Wendy Lewis Kesl, Nursing, Moving Mountains: Evolution in Nurse Practitioner Education.
  • Eunice Lee, Biochemistry, Determination of a Molecule Required to Rescue Knocked-Down Zebrafish Embryo.
  • Xin Lee, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Synthesis and Magnetoelectric Properties of Ordered Nanowire Arrays.
  • Thomas Lodwick, Political Science, Nanotechnology and the Global Poor.
  • Christopher Minor, Architecture, Chelsea Master Plan.
  • John Morning, Physical Therapy, Anterior Cruciate Ligament Laxity and Intercondylar Notch Size: A Cadaveric Study.
  • Charles A. Naggar, Chemical Engineering, DNA Damage in Mammalian Cells during Quantum Dot Processing and Handling.
  • Matthieu Newton, Julia Stoner, Stuti Dave, Armand Thibodeau, Physical Therapy, Ankle Strength and Endurance.
  • Quang Nguyen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Integration of Magnetic Materials in Planar Microinductors.
  • Danson Njoka, Chemical Engineering, Adhesion-Based Microfluidic Cell Separation for Cardiac Tissue Engineering.
  • Robert O�Neill and Jarrett Melendez, Harajuku Girls, Ganguro and Cosplay: Breaking the Mold in Japanese Youth Culture.
  • Raqchel Ober, Computer Science, Prestar Item Borrowing & Lending System for CCIS.
  • Michael Ordazzo, Chemistry, The Role of an Alternative Processivity Clamp in DNA Damage Tolerance in Escherichia coli.
  • Robin Ortiz, Behavioral Neuroscience, Intranasal Gene Delivery Using Cationic Liposomes: A Novel Treatment Strategy for Parkinson�s Disease.
  • Michael Paradiso, Samuel Chase, Jon Fisher, Andrew Leinung, Jon Simmons; International Business, Business/M.I.S., Computer Science, Computer/Information Science, Physics/Engineering; CEIP: Context Embedded Information Product Maps.
  • Katherine Peel, Criminal Justice, The Effect of Spatial Displacement on Visitation for Prisoners under Sentence of Death.
  • Gary Peterson, Mechanical Engineering Technology, An Articulating Confocal Endoscope.
  • Michelle E. Pittman, Criminal Justice, End of Life Issues.
  • Ashley Santo, Physical Therapy, Activity Monitoring for Wheelchair Propulsion.
  • Joseph Shekiro, Chemical Engineering, Cartilage Construct Transport Properties.
  • Jesse Silverberg, Physics/Math/Philosophy, Investigating & Fabricating New Nanostructures.
  • James Sims, Chemical Engineering, Leukocyte Interactions with Functional Surfaces under Fluid Shear in Microfluidic Devices.
  • Mark Sivak, Mechanical Engineering, Managing the Tradeoffs in the Digital Transformation of an Educational Board Game to a Computer Based Simulation.
  • Seth Sivak, Mechanical Engineering, Evolution of Multiplayer Educational Simulations: Board Games to Broadband.
  • Jacqueline Smith, Behavioral Neuroscience, Sensitization to Cocaine Induced by the HIV Accessory Protein Tat.
  • Sharon Soucek, Biology, The Relationship between Oxidatively Damaged DNA and Reactive Oxygen Species.
  • Scarlett Trillia, Human Services/Communications, Eco-Tourism in Developing Mexico.
  • Jason Turtotte, Industrial Engineering, Development and Testing of an Electronic Gaming Device for Engineering Education.
  • Zeu Hong Tzeng, Pharmacy, Thiolated Gelatin Nanoparticles for Intracellular siRNA Delivery.
  • Cynthia Walker, History, The American West & American Cultural History.
  • Jimmy J. Weng, Finance and Accounting, Targeting Hedge Funds.
  • Ryan Whelan, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Studying the Impact of Spam Filtering.
  • Grace Yang, Communications and International Affairs, Democracy and Development.