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CUR's flagship program is the Undergraduate Summer Research
Fellowships in Science, Mathematics and Engineering. It provides stipends for selected
students, and may also cover other costs. Gifts from corporations and foundations, co-sponsoring
scientific societies, grants from the federal government and gifts from individuals support the
fellowships. In 1998, the Brian Andreen Undergraduate Research Fund was established to build a
permanent endowment for the program.
CUR Suspends
Summer Research Fellowships Program: a letter from Tim Elgren, CUR President
2004-2005
At its mid-year meeting, the CUR Executive Board decided unanimously
to suspend the popular Summer Fellowships Program.
The program had been operating on probationary status for the past two
years due to a dramatic decrease in the number of stipends CUR was able to
fund. The
number of fellowships funded fell from a high of 59 in 1994 to single digits
over the past three years.
Proposal pressure remained high (164 proposals for 8 awards in 2004)
until this past year.
Unfortunately, the funding rate had dipped to less than 5%.
At this rate, it is no longer an effective use of the generous time
devoted by reviewers (two to three per proposal) or the CUR volunteers who
serve on the Summer Fellowships Committee, not to mention the time devoted by
faculty members submitting high quality proposals with little hope of
funding.
For good reasons, the Summer Fellowships Program remained one of the
most popular CUR programs over the past 15 years.
During this time, over 400 student stipends were provided to enable
undergraduates to pursue collaborative research with dedicated faculty
mentors. Many
of these stipends were awarded to students and faculty members at
institutions where such support was limited or non-existent.
These stipends provided an important opportunity for young faculty
members starting research programs and mid-career mentors initiating new
projects. Throughout
the 90’s, this program filled an important need for the community of active
scientists from primarily undergraduate institutions.
The
Summer Fellowship Program was funded by a variety of government, corporate
and individual sponsors. Recently, CUR Graduate Student Registry
subscriptions also generated a number of stipends.
Thanks to an initial donation from the Murdock Charitable Trust and
subsequent individual contributions from CUR members and friends of CUR, The
Brian Andreen Undergraduate Research Fund was established in 1998 to support
undergraduate research activities.
The Fund is named in honor of the founder of CUR and acknowledges his
longtime service toward implementing and institutionalizing undergraduate
research activities, particularly in his role as President of the Research
Corporation.
Income from the Andreen Fund will continue to fund undergraduate
research activities within the other existing programs coordinated by CUR.
The funding climate for supporting undergraduate research stipends has
changed dramatically during the past 15 years.
CUR played a vital role in the first decade of this program by serving
as an interface for industrial partners looking to support undergraduate
research experiences, many of which were in the chemical sciences.
Many of these corporate sponsors now fund their own initiatives,
internal and external, to sponsor undergraduate student engagement in
research. For
example, Merck now funds nearly 10 new three-year awards annually to
primarily undergraduate institutions through its Undergraduate Science
Research Program (www.merckaaasusrp.org).
Furthermore, many of our own institutions fund a number of student
stipends internally as one element of their own effort to institutionalize
support for undergraduate research.
So it is with mixed feelings that I announce the suspension of the
Summer Fellowship Program.
On one hand, we’re suspending a program that has served many within
our organization.
On the other, we’re able to claim victory
in our efforts to advocate for broad incorporation of undergraduate research
experiences.
The widespread adoption of these opportunities allows us to move on
and focus our efforts on other initiatives that support faculty and
institutions implementing and sustaining productive research programs that
incorporate undergraduates.
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CUR is pleased to open our 16th round of
summer fellowships. This year we are excited to announce to our Virginia
members that we have received sponsorship for a fellowship from the
Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges. To see if your school is one
of the 15 Virginia schools covered under this fellowship please go to
VFIC's website at 
