Hooper Undergraduate Research Award

Purpose

The intent of the Hooper Undergraduate Research Award (HURA) is to encourage greater participation of undergraduate students from all disciplines in research, scholarly, and creative activities supervised by a faculty mentor.

Eligibility

NAU undergraduates must be:

  • enrolled as a fulltime student in an undergraduate program for both the Fall and Spring semesters of the award year (exceptions for some majors may apply); and
  • in good academic standing at the time of application and during the period in which the project is funded.

Award

  • The maximum award is $3,500.
  • HURA recipients must register for at least one hour of academic credit in undergraduate research, independent study, field work, or another appropriate course for their HURA project each semester that they receive HURA funding. Summer Session II enrollment will ONLY be required IF the student's application for summer work is NOT approved.
  • Compensation for student personnel is $11/hour.

Application process

Congratulations to the 2018-19 HURA recipients!  See a complete list of the awarded projects.

The 2019-2020 HURA application portfolios will be accepted between February 1 and March 1, 2019.  

HURA grant notifications will be sent to all applicants the week of April 8, 2019.

Proposal Development Information Tutorial for HURA Grants (optional)

If you’re interested in applying for a HURA grant, you are strongly encouraged—but not required—to request access to our online tutorial available in BbLearn with tips and advice about preparing a competitive proposal, attend one of our in-person workshops, or consult with the University Writing Commons for assistance with your application.  

Program guidelines and application instructions 

You should thoroughly review the information found in the HURA Request for Proposals (RFP) and understand all application requirements.  If you are proposing a project that involves human subjects, please be sure to pay critical attention to the IRB special instructions. 

The student’s application portfolio, including the faculty mentor recommendation, is submitted using a two-step email process.  

  1. Student downloads 2018-19 application forms and saves these to his/her computer
  2. Student creates a single Word document that includes the project description/narrative, timeline, resume(s), and budget with justification.
  3. Student sends this completed Word document and a PDF of his/her current transcript to the faculty mentor.
  4. NEW: Student registers the HURA application online: http://www.bit.ly/registerhura during the application period (February 1 - March 1). Preview the registration questions here.  
  5. Faculty mentor reviews the application, completes the faculty mentor recommendation section of the application, and saves the document as a PDF.
  6. Faculty mentor forwards the application portfolio (the proposal PDF and the current unofficial transcript PDF) to ug-research@nau.edu with "HURA Application" in the subject line.

It is the responsibility of the student applicant to send all materials to the faculty mentor in sufficient time so that the mentor can complete their review and recommendation prior to the deadline.

Application forms 

The 2018-19 application forms below should be downloaded and saved to your computer.  The Application Portfolio and Budget forms must be combined into a single MS Word document for the mentor's review.  The faculty mentor will then complete the recommendation section of the Application Portfolio and save the Word document as a PDF.

If formatting becomes problematic on the application template, the form protection (it is not password-protected) may be removed as follows: In Word, on the Review tab, click on Protect Document, then "Restrict Formatting and Editing."  Then click on "Stop Protection."  No need to put protection back on, as it will be saved as a PDF prior to submission.

For 2017-18 Grant Recipients: Required Project Reports

It is the responsibility of the 2017-18 HURA grant recipients to file these required project reports in a timely manner.

Interim progress report (due 90 days after commencement of the work, but no later than November 30, 2017) 

  • Use the template provided here 
  • Describe and assess progress toward outcomes compared to timeline included in application
  • Review (and revise) project timeline and/or budget, if warranted (2017-18 Budget template)
  • Photos of you working on your project, if available

Final report (due no later than May 6, 2018)  

  • Description extent to which the goals and objectives of the project have been achieved
  • Description of the outcomes/results of the project and how they were disseminated
  • Statement describing the benefits to the student of participation in the research project
  • Summary of how funds were used (e.g., budget vs. actual)
  • Summary of the departmental and/or other contributions to the project
  • Photos of you working on your project, or presenting your results, if available
  • Online questionnaire 
 

Recent awards

Browse through our recently funded projects from academic years 2009-2017. 

Katelynn Jenkins
Katelynn Jenkins, with co-researcher Michael Johnson, study aspen regeneration and stand dynamics on the Schultz Fire, Coconino National Forest, with funded by a 2012-13 HURA grant.