URSP

Any current Mason undergraduate students. All majors and concentrations are welcome.

Unfortunately, students are not eligible to participate in the URSP once they have graduated from Mason.

Any undergraduate research, creative, or scholarly project in which the student is contributing to original scholarly work is supported. Click HERE to read about the students and projects that have been funded in the past!

Students should meet with their potential faculty or staff mentor before completing their application to outline a reasonable project and ensure the mentor’s support of their application and proposed project.

Student Application includes the following sections.

• TITLE: A descriptive statement of the project.
• SHORT COVER LETTER: A personal statement to the review committee summarizing the proposed project and your personal goals and expectations. Why are you interested in this project?
• INTRODUCTION: Explain your scholarly question and provide a rationale for your project. Include a narrative review of appropriate literature with in-text citations. What is your question and why is it significant?
• PROCESS: Describe your project design and methods. Include a description of materials and equipment necessary to complete the project. What will you do to answer your question?
• TIMETABLE: Provide a detailed plan for your time during the semester. Although subsequent funding is not guaranteed, you may extend the timeline beyond the semester as needed. How will you schedule your time?
• EXPECTED OUTCOMES: Describe the anticipated outcomes, products and/or results of your project and its contribution to the scholarly community. What will you produce? How will your results be disseminated in your field?
• BUDGET: Standard allocation is $1000 for student stipend and $500 for faculty stipend; you may budget funds according the your project needs. How will these funds be spent?
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: Include complete reference list of works cited and consulted in the style most appropriate to the discipline.

Download the Narrative-Guidelines-v6-0  (PDF) for additional suggestions.

Submission

Submit your application via the web described below.  The student applicant is required to insure their project mentor completes the Mentor Application Form before the posted deadline.

• Go to urspapp.gmu.edu, click Student Login button and log in with your Mason Net ID

• Step 1: Student Profile: Enter your personal information then click the “Save Profile” button. Students should complete this section EARLY to give their mentor adequate time to complete their portion. Project titles can be changed at a later time.

• Step 2: Initiate Application: This short form identifies your project title, project semester and year, and project mentor. You may enter more than one mentor, if applicable. When you click “Submit and Email Your Mentor”, your mentor will receive an email inviting them to complete their required portion of the application. Your mentor MUST complete their portion of the application before the deadline in order for your application to be reviewed. Please complete this portion of the application EARLY to allow your mentor time to complete his/her statement.

• Step 3: Complete Application: Enter your narrative text here for your application. Please note the character limits will appear in the sections once your start typing.  You can scroll through the text boxes with a bar on the right. You may write your narrative in a Word processing program first, then paste it into the application. Click on the green question mark next to each section to view the descriptions listed in the Narrative Guidelines. Click “Submit for Review” to submit your application.

If your application is successful and you are invited to participate in the URSP, you will be expected to commit the number of hours indicated in the table below on your project. You should coordinate with your mentor a suitable method of documenting your time during the project.
URSP Options

Students will receive funding as indicated in the table below.  Stipends are paid directly to the students during their award period.  Mentor stipends are paid via payroll after the end of the semester. Stipends can be reallocated to purchase materials and/or supplies to support your project. These funds are immediately available at the beginning of the semester of your award.

Funding Options

* Distribution between stipend and supplies may be determined by student/mentor team.

Justifications of student stipends should include how you will use the stipend to support yourself during the award period. It is completely acceptable to explain that this stipend will help offset your number of hours working another job or assist you in paying your tuition.  Materials and/or supplies should be described in the application so that the reviewers know what is neccessary for your project to succeed. You are not required to justify your mentor’s stipend since their time and effort is so valuable.

As a participant in the URSP, you will have priority to receive travel support through the Undergraduate Student Travel Fund to present the results of your scholarship at a scholarly meeting, conference, exhibition, etc.

In addition to monetary support, you will receive professional development support through the URSP seminar that you will attend the first semester you are in the program. You will receive advanced notification of OSCAR events, undergraduate opportunities, and other news as part of the Students as Scholars initiative. Students who participate in the URSP are also potential nominees to become OSCAR Fellows, outstanding undergraduate research leaders who represent Mason’s Students as Scholars initiative to other students, faculty, parents, and the community.

Finally, participation in this program is an honor and an opportunity. You are being recognized as a budding scholar in your field, so you are able to include the program on your resume or vita. But more importantly, you are gaining professional and personal skills in creative problem-solving, working professionally with colleagues, and communicating effectively that will enrich your Mason experience and your post-graduation life!

Any undergraduate student who is in good academic standing may apply to work on a project as a part of the URSP. We do require that you remain in good academic standing (which means maintaining at least a 2.0 GPA) while working on the project. That being said, higher grades, especially in the areas you wish to study for your project, will make you a stronger candidate for the URSP. The Student Scholarly Activities subcommittee will review your current transcript from PatriotWeb when considering your application to ensure that you have the academic background necessary to successfully complete your proposed project.

Yes. Applications are reviewed by the Student Scholarly Activities Subcommittee of the Students as Scholars QEP Leadership Council, which is comprised of faculty and students from a variety of academic units at Mason. Applications that communicate a clear vision that is understandable to a diverse range of disciplines, while also demonstrating the greatest potential for student success, will be selected.

All current Mason community members who are tenure-line faculty, term faculty, adjunct faculty, post-docs, staff, and/or graduate students are eligible to mentor a project as part of the URSP.

Your mentor will help guide you through your project proposal and should work with you on a regular basis to help guide you through your project. The mentor should treat you as a colleague and give you opportunities to understand the scholarly context of your project. Given the different models of mentorship in each discipline, this relationship will be variable. In some cases, you may be given a graduate student or other mentor to work more closely with you on a daily basis.

Both students and their mentors are required to submit an application for consideration in the URSP. This is done to ensure that students and their mentors are each committed to the proposed project and appear to have a common understanding of the work that will be done to complete the project as part of the URSP.  If your mentor is supporting the application of two students, he/she should complete a separate Mentor Application Form for each applicant.

Yes! Students who successfully complete the first semester are encouraged to continue their URSP project. Students who are making satisfactory progress on their project may continue in the program until the project is complete and/or they graduate. If you wish to receive funding for subsequent semesters, you must formally reapply to URSP and submit a new proposal.  This should not be an exact copy of your previously successful proposal and you will be asked to clearly indicate the outcomes of your funded semester(s).  The committee has higher expectations for repeat proposals and generally gives preference to new students. Typically, students are not funded more 2 or 3 times from this program.

• URSP award funds may be allocated to purchase supplies and/or materials essential to the completion of the student project.
• The faculty mentor’s department purchasing officer will complete purchases on behalf of the mentor/student team and charge the purchase to an OSCAR org code. Contact OSCAR for the correct code for your college.
• An OSCAR staff member will need to to sign off on the reconciliation paperwork.
• OSCAR will not reimburse students for items purchased directly. All purchases should go through the university and obey all the purchasing rules.
• URSP supply and materials funds are available immediately upon the beginning of the award period and must be exhausted within the given term, either Fall, Spring or Summer.
• If funding is used for international travel, $50 needs to be budgeted for a travel insurance fee. Students will also need to sign up on the Travel Registration Page.
• If you have any questions, call (703-993-3794) or email (oscar@gmu.edu) us for help.

Contact the Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) by sending an email to oscar@gmu.edu or stop by our new office in the Johnson Center, Room 246, next to the Admissions Office.