The CUR Fellows Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research Leadership annually recognizes a CUR member who is a leader and role model within the undergraduate research community and whose career represents the values and ideals represented in CUR’s Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research.
Awardees receive $2500, a plaque to display their achievement, recognition at an awards celebration with the CUR community, and a slot to present at the ConnectUR conference to share their expertise and experience.
The award will open in the fall of 2024.
Eligibility:
Eligible individuals are active members of CUR. Applicants will be leaders and role models in the community of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Investigations (URSCI) and have contributed to the enterprise for more than a decade as faculty and/or staff.
Applicants will need to submit:
- A curriculum vitae (CV) of no more than four pages tailored to showcase sustained excellence in undergraduate mentoring, scholarship, and leadership activities, for at least a decade.
- A first-person written narrative of no more than 1500 words that speaks to the nominee’s professional and personal commitment to URSCI. The narrative should offer examples of mentorship, scholarship, and leadership as it relates to the mission and vision of CUR.
- Two letters of support: (1) from appropriate administrators at the institution (president, provost, research officer, or dean) highlighting the nominee’s contributions to URSCI and (2) from someone outside of your campus that is familiar with your contributions to URSCI. (Two-page limit for each letter)
The award will open in the fall of 2024. Once open, the materials will be due February 3, 2025, and should be submitted as a single PDF to cur@cur.org.
Expectations of CUR Fellows:
- Awardees are expected to continue to uphold the values of CUR and continue their leadership of the URSCI enterprise.
- Awardees will be expected to contribute a session at virtual ConnectUR and are encouraged to bring their expertise and leadership to the broader community through CUR delivery channels in the year of their award and beyond. Delivery channels will be mutually determined after award confirmation.
- CUR Fellows are individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in establishing and fostering undergraduate research activities of programmatic, institutional, regional, or national scope. The Review Committee will be looking for applications that demonstrate through evidence a sustained record of mentorship, scholarship, and leadership in the areas listed below.
- Mentorship + Scholarship: Individuals who have sustained a track record of impact as a scholar and mentor of undergraduates. Examples of this might include:
- Sustained record of dissemination or production of scholarship and creative activity (e.g., peer-reviewed or similarly evaluated publications, conference presentations, and/or juried performances or exhibits) for which mentored undergraduates are an integral part
- Evidence of particularly effective practices for mentoring students and maintaining productive student-focused research projects.
- Proven excellence in the development of course-based or embedded undergraduate research
- Enhancing engagement of diverse student populations in undergraduate research
- Awards or other forms of recognition of mentored undergraduate researchers
- Recognition received related to undergraduate research mentoring
- Postbaccalaureate success of mentored undergraduate researchers
- Leadership: Individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in establishing and fostering undergraduate research activities of programmatic, institutional, regional, or national scope. Examples of this might include:
- Contributing to the establishment, growth, and/or sustainability of undergraduate research programs
- Broadening the impact of undergraduate research activities to enhance equity and inclusivity
- Leading curricular reform to create research-rich, research-supportive curricula
- Forging research collaborations or consortiums, within or across disciplines
- Impactful advocacy for undergraduate research resources
- Developing and disseminating best practices and assessment of undergraduate research impact
- Mentorship + Scholarship: Individuals who have sustained a track record of impact as a scholar and mentor of undergraduates. Examples of this might include:
Learn more about our 2024 awardee via our press release.
For questions or additional information about the CUR Fellows Awards, please contact the CUR National Office.