Hooper Undergraduate Research Award
The SPArCS Award
Urdea Collaborative Research Award
Purpose
The intent of the Urdea Collaborative Research Award is to encourage interdisciplinary projects between undergraduate students from the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering and the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences in research, scholarly, and creative activities supervised by a faculty mentor.
Eligibility
This award is for NAU students, including all undergraduates or a team that includes one graduate. Students must be:
- enrolled as a full-time student in an undergraduate program for both the fall and spring semesters of the award year; 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 $7,500.
- Urdea recipients must register for at least one hour of academic credit in undergraduate research, independent study, field work, or another appropriate course for their project each semester that they receive Urdea funding.
- Compensation for student personnel is $16.50/hour.
- Applications will be accepted February 1 – March 1, 2025.
- Urdea notifications will be sent to all applicants the week of April 1, 2025.
- Projects can begin as early as May 15, 2025 and end as early as December 13, 2025.
Urdea Application Workshops
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| December 3 | 4:00-5:00 pm | Sycamore room in the Union |
Application process
Guidelines & Instructions Accordion Open
You should thoroughly review the information found in the HURA & Urdea 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 in the RFP.
The student’s application, including the faculty mentor recommendation, is submitted using an online submission portal.
- Use the HURA and Urdea Application Template to create a single Word document that includes the project description/narrative, timeline, and resume(s).
- Use the Urdea Budget Worksheet to create an Excel document outlining your budget.
- Sign in to the online submission portal using your Louie login and upload the Word and Excel documents. Additionally, you will need to provide your faculty mentor’s name and email address. An automatic request to complete a recommendation form will be emailed to the faculty mentor.
- You can log back in to the submission portal at any time to make changes to your application or check to see if your faculty recommendation has been received until March 1. It is your responsibility to ensure that your faculty mentor recommendation is submitted no later than March 1, 2025.
Application Forms Accordion Closed
Application forms
The application forms below should be downloaded and saved to your computer. The Application 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 and save the Word document as a PDF.
- HURA and Urdea Application Template (.docx) NOTE: The recommendation form, project description, timeline, references, and qualifications of applicant(s) are included in this document. The budget template must be downloaded separately.
- Udrea Budget Worksheet (.xlsx)
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.
Additional Resources Accordion Closed
If you’re interested in applying for a Urdea Award, you are strongly encouraged—but not required—to:
- Review the PowerPoint Presentation with tips and advice about preparing a competitive proposal
- Attend our in-person workshop (see above), and
- Consult with the Lumberjack Writing Center for assistance with your application.
For 2024-25 Award Recipients: Required Project Reports Accordion Closed
It is the responsibility of the 2024-25 Urdea award recipients to file these required project reports in a timely manner.
Interim progress report (due December 13, 2024)
- Use the interim report template provided here
- Describe and assess progress toward outcomes compared to timeline included in application
- Review project timeline and budget. If budget modification is warranted, you need to submit a new budget spreadsheet to request a reallocation of your funding into different categories. Use your original approved budget spreadsheet, edit the numbers in the budget lines, keep the original justification and add a justification for the requested revisions. Email your revised budgets to ug-research@nau.edu.
- Photos of you working on your project, if available
Final report (due May 9, 2025)
Submit your online final report by May 9, 2025. The report includes the following questions on:
- 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
- Feedback and post-assessment