NCICU Undergraduate Research Program Stipends

North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) is pleased to announce the 2016-2017 NCICU Undergraduate Research Program Stipends – Call for Applications.

Once again, NCICU is offering stipends for students performing undergraduate research at NCICU’s 36 colleges and universities in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields of study.  These stipends will be awarded competitively.  Recipients will be required to participate in the annual State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium (SNCURCS), which is sponsored through a collaborative partnership between NCICU and the University of North Carolina.

The 2016 Symposium will take place on Saturday, November 5 at North Carolina Central University in Durham.  Formal registration forms for the Symposium will be distributed in the fall, once the 2016-2017 academic year begins.  Students are encouraged to submit information regarding their projects for publication in Explorations, the Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities for the State of North Carolina, as well.  Information about Explorations will be sent in a separate email.

All students wishing to participate in the NCICU Undergraduate Research Program must have a faculty advisor.  The faculty advisor’s responsibilities include agreement to mentor the student’s participation in the SNCURCS and to sign the student’s stipend application.  Students will need to include a budget specifying how the funds will be used.  Examples are items such as the costs associated with performing research or the cost of cutting back on work study hours.  Stipend award amounts range from $300 to $600 each (up to a total amount for 2016-2017 of $3,100) based on the recommendation by the selection committee.

NOTE:  “Science” as part of STEM is defined as a natural or physical science and does not include social sciences (psychology, sociology, human environmental sciences, etc.).  However, all students who are performing research – whether in a STEM field of study or not – are encouraged to present at the Symposium in November.

Attached you will find the NCICU Undergraduate Research Program student stipend application form which we ask that you distribute to students wishing to apply. Please return application forms in Adobe .pdf format via email to leggett@ncicu.org by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 29. 

Some stipends are reserved for students who qualify for financial need, as determined by the federal needs analysis formula, to ensure that students may participate in undergraduate research regardless of financial challenges.  For this reason, a question on the application form asks whether the student qualifies for financial assistance.