Jump to important dates and proposal submission.
Purpose of the award
The award is designed to provide research and creative activity experiences to students who are first-generation and/or have been historically underrepresented in undergraduate research. In doing so, the program seeks to enhance the academic experience, educational outcomes, and future educational pursuits of students of all identities.
Program background
According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (2017) there are gaps in undergraduate research participation for students of diverse racial and socioeconomic identities.
- Nationwide, students who identify as American Indian/Alaska Native, Black or African American, LatinX, and Asian Pacific Islander report participating in research with faculty at lower rates compared to other students.
- Only 18% of first-generation students reported being involved in research with a faculty member.
- Only 4.5% of all first-year students report intentions to get involved with undergraduate research during their first year.
The program seeks to address these inequities by encouraging participation in undergraduate research for students holding these diverse identities.
More importantly, undergraduate research has been identified as a High Impact Practice for students, which can have an impact on student success.
A pipeline of students engaged with research during their first year prepares them for future opportunities including Undergraduate Research awards, McNair Scholars and graduate school.
Lastly, developing strong academic and social connections during the first years of college is critical for long-term student success, which is why the program focuses on first- and second-year students.
Research projects
Students will work on projects designed by the Βι¶ΉΣ³» faculty mentors.
Projects should be scoped to be appropriate for freshmen and sophomores with limited prior research experience. Projects are welcome in all fields – Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and STEM – with particular emphasis on the need to provide more STEM research opportunities to those typically underrepresented within these fields. Listing of suggested minimum skills or areas of academic interest is advisable to attract suitable candidates.
Successful candidates will work for a total of 150 hours in a semester on the project and produce a poster or other suitable presentation to be given at the Wolf Pack Discoveries symposium.
Solicitation and application
The projects will be advertised by Undergraduate Research to students, who will then complete an application. All applicants for a specific project will be reviewed by the mentors and the candidates will be ranked. Final selection of candidates will be made by Undergraduate Research in consultation with the mentors.
Awards
An award of $1,800, provided by the University, will go to the student in the form of salary as a student worker. Students will work approximately 10 hours per week over a 15-week semester. Students will be paid biweekly for hours worked during the award cycle.
Mentor expectations
- Attend the program orientation.
- Complete a “plan for research form” with your student.
- Attend the Wolf Pack Discoveries symposium to support your student.
Timeline
For projects being conducted from August 1 - December 31:
- Proposals must be submitted by faculty mentors by mid-January (this date corresponds to the date the application is available to students)
- Students will apply in April
- After application period, mentors will have time to review student applications, set up interviews (optional), and decide on their top picks
- Student-mentor matches will then be determined, and decisions will be disseminated to students and agencies in May
For projects being conducted from January 1 - May 31:
- Proposals must be submitted by faculty mentors by end of August (this date corresponds to the date the application is available to students)
- Students will apply in November
- After application period, mentors will have time to review student applications, set up interviews (optional), and decide on their top picks
- Student-mentor matches will then be determined, and decisions will be disseminated to students and agencies in December
Participating mentors & projects for spring 2025
Applications due November 18, 2025. Subscribe to our email list for announcements when the application is open!
Due to budget constraints, not all projects proposed for funding will necessarily be funded. Funding decisions will be based on available funds, number of applicants and number of projects funded per mentor.
PREP projects for spring 2025
- Tom Albright: Equitable traffic safety infrastructure – mapping and user needs
- Elisa Baldrighi: Deep benthic community restoration in the Gulf of Mexico – sediment meiofaunal community assessment for the habitat impact evaluation after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
- Ting Feng: Visually guided behavior in mice
- Sarah Haigh: How do uncomfortable visual environments affect behavior?
- Melody Huslage: Gender-based violence in Hispanic/Latine communities in Βι¶ΉΣ³» and evaluation of human trafficking service provision for Indigenous communities
- Inhwan Ko: Renewable energy utilities – who they are, what they think, and how they talk to local communities
- Anne Leonard: Climate change, floral nutrition, and pollinator health
- Andrew Nuss: Insect physiology lab
- Samuel Odoh: Computation screening of stable materials for photocatalytic water splitting
- Anna Petursdottir: The use of virtual procedures derived from in-person mand and tact training to teach foreign language vocabulary
- Edward Schoolman: Climate, Environment, and society in the premodern Mediterranean – Exploring the intersections between people and landscapes through interdisciplinary approaches
- Geoffrey Smith and Rochanne Downs: Archaeological collections long-term management strategy
- Floris van Bruegel: Discovering the role of temporal features in flies’ olfactory navigation using optogenetics
Project submission
The list of PREP projects is updated as mentor projects become available. Once the application is available to students, no new projects will be added for that semester's solicitation.
Questions
Please email undergradresearch@unr.edu with questions.