Summer 2013  VANDERBILT UNDERGRADUATE  SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM (VUSRP)

Goal: The goal of the VUSRP is to enhance joint student-faculty research efforts.

Program:

The major component of the program is the scholarly work done by a student in collaboration with a full-time faculty member.

The VUSRP involves full-time work. Participants cannot enroll in summer session courses.

The program lasts ten weeks, June 3, 2013 - August 9, 2013.

Five informal seminars are planned for students in the VUSRP.

A poster session, open to the Vanderbilt community, will be held in the Fall featuring the work done by VUSRP participants.

It is anticipated that at least 50 awards will be made this year.

Student support: A $4000 stipend will be provided for each student.

Faculty support: Some faculty members are eligible to apply for supplementary research funds for themselves, in connection with the VUSRP, under the Undergraduate Research Supervision Grants (URSG) component of the Research Scholars Grants Program, information about which can be found at: http://research.vanderbilt.edu/policy/internal-grants/.

Note: To be considered for these research funds, the faculty sponsor must apply for them through the Research Scholar Grants Program at the same time the student applies for the VUSRP Fellowship.

Eligibility:

Vanderbilt students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs are eligible.

Full consideration will be given to students who have at least a 3.0 GPA. In recent practice, awards have typically gone to students with GPAs of 3.2 or above.

Students must be able to engage in 10 weeks of full time research over the summer.

Although the program is primarily for rising seniors, truly exceptional applications from others will be considered. Graduating seniors are not eligible.

Research within the VUSRP is not restricted to work within a student's major area of study, but is restricted to work with a full-time faculty member who either holds an appointment in one of the four undergraduate schools (i.e., Arts and Sciences, Blair, Peabody, and Engineering), or is a core faculty member associated with the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS).

Faculty mentors may sponsor up to two VUSRP applications for this year's competition. However, given a priority to distribute awards across the University, it should be noted that only in exceptional cases will more than one Fellow will be given an award to work with the same mentor in a given year.

To get an idea of projects the Program has supported in the past, you can download (MSWord) listings of award recipients, their project titles, and their Faculty Sponsors from the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 competitions.

Information meetings: Information meetings will be held in each of the four participating undergraduate schools to explain the program to students. Members of the VUSRP Coordinating Committee will conduct these meetings in early to mid-February. This schedule of these meetings will be posted on this site in late January.

Application procedure:

To submit an application to the 2013 competition please complete the online form available here and download and complete the paper applciation form available here.

The paper application includes sections to be completed by the student, by the faculty research sponsor, and by the student-faculty team.

Submission of the application on time is the student's responsibility. The entire application must be endorsed by the faculty sponsor. Faculty members may endorse only two applications (see eligibility section above).

The online form PLUS SEVEN copies of the application form plus seven copies of the the student's official transcript (1 original) should be submitted by 4 pm Friday, March 1, 2013 to:
Julie Canada in 302 Olin Hall or the VUSRP box in 107 Olin Hall.

In preparing the application, the official transcript should be removed from its envelope, and all copies of the transcripts should be stapled to the copies of the application forms, as a continuation of the application form.

Application review:

1. The VUSRP Coordinating Committee will review the applications.
2. The review will consider
   1. the extent to which the proposed work will enhance joint student-faculty research
   2. the degree to which the research setting and work plan meet the student's stated goals
   3. the role that participation in the VUSRP plays in the faculty member's program of academic work and research.
3. Awards will be announced by April 1st.

Other resources for students interested in summer research Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy National Science Foundation REU sites National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)

Any questions or comments about the presentation of this material should be directed to c.mccabe@vanderbilt.edu