Eagle Scholars Program for Undergraduate Research (Eagle SPUR)

 

EAGLE SPUR FORMS & DOCUMENTS Apply Here  Budget Template Mentor Support Statement Template  Final Report

Application deadlines for the Eagle SPUR Program are March 15 and October 15 for projects that begin the following semester. The program supports all aspects of undergraduate research and creative activity, including community-engaged work, at Southern Miss with grants of up to $1,000 (up to $1,500 if travel funds are requested) for one- or two-semester projects and activities. You are expected to devote at least 150 cumulative hours to your project during the funding period and must complete your SPUR project no later than the semester of your graduation. Grant money may be used for domestic travel (e.g., to present at a conference, perform at a show, visit an archive, etc.), small equipment, supplies, a stipend that allows you to devote time to your research project, etc. If you are interested in applying for funds to attend a conference, you may need to apply before you know whether your abstract has been accepted. (If you are awarded a DCUR grant but not accepted to the conference, your DCUR travel funds simply will be returned.) This program is supported by generous contributions from the Southern Miss Vice President for Research.

Only complete proposals that include completed mentor and budget support forms on the templates that are provided (i.e., MS Word format) and proof of completion of the CITI Common Course for USM Undergraduate and HON 300 Students course (PDF format) will be reviewed.

You may not use Chat GPT or other AI tools to generate text for this application.

Evaluation Criteria for Your Proposal

• Completeness of your proposal and adherence to all required content, format, and use of sources. This includes submission of all required proposal documents.
• Quality of your writing (including regarding grammar, spelling, and/or punctuation) and organization of the proposal text.
• Thoroughness and clarity of your project description, including your in-text/bibliographic citations in the objectives and significance section of your application.
• Articulation of your project’s relevance for your scholarly or professional development.
• Detail and feasibility of your proposed project plan (approaches, methods, timeline).
• Appropriateness of length and timing of the requested funding period for the scope of your project.
• Appropriateness of your travel plans (venue, location, transportation), if applicable, and consideration of cost sharing opportunities (note: cost-sharing is not a prerequisite for an award but is a consideration in grant programs administration).
• Detail of your proposed budget and appropriateness for your project.
• Strength and detail of your mentor’s support statement.
• Your overall understanding of your proposed project.
• Completion of the CITI Common Course for USM Undergraduate and HON 300 Students course.

General Advice for Your Application

Remember that you are applying for a competitively awarded grant; your writing should be formal, careful, and professional. While your tone should be professional, the proposal review committee, which will evaluate the merits of your request for funding, consists of a group of faculty members from different academic disciplines. Since reviewers may not be experts in your specific area, you should explain concepts and define acronyms clearly for a general collegiate audience.

Proofread your application prior to submission to eliminate grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors that might detract the reviewers’ attention from the message you want to convey and may lower your reviewers' scores. Also, pay attention to word count for each section in the application. You should strive to meet but must not exceed the word count for each section. Reviewers will not consider any additional documents (e.g. the bibliography, illustrations, and tables) to which a link is provided.

If you are part of an undergraduate student research team, you may list up to five co-applicants.

Information You Will Be Asked to Provide in Your Application  

(* indicates required information)

Contact Information

• *Applicant Name
• Preferred Name
• Personal Pronouns
• *Student ID
• *Email Address
• *Cellphone Number
• *Major(s)
• *Projected Graduation Semester and Year
• *Affiliated with Honors College? McNair Program? Neither?
• *USM faculty mentor who is familiar with and supports this project.
• *Faculty Mentor Email
• *Faculty Mentor School

Co-Applicant(s) 

If you would like your Co-Applicant(s) to receive emails pertaining to this application, please enter their email(s) in the "Add other email addresses for notifications" section near the bottom of the application.

If you add a Co-Applicant, the following fields will appear.

• First Name
• Last Name
• usm.edu Email Address
• Student ID #
• Major(s)
• Projected Graduation Semester and Year

Proposal Details

• *Proposal Title
• *Project Period: one or two semesters as appropriate for your project.
• *Total Amount Requested: must match the total amount listed in your proposed project budget.
• *Purpose for which you are seeking DCUR funding: Your statement should be succinct but clear to highlight how you will use DCUR funds in the grant time period. If you are requesting a stipend, materials, and/or travel indicate why this is necessary to your project. If you are seeking funding to attend a conference, show, competition, or exhibition, indicate whether you will be presenting, performing or exhibiting, and whether you have already been accepted to do so. The maximum word count for this section is 150 words.
• *The origin of and your interest in your project: This should be a personal statement that explains how your project originated, why you are interested in pursuing this topic, how it is connected to your career plans, and what your personal goals and expectations are for your project. This section may contain phrases like “This project is part of the ongoing research in my professor’s group (or some other research setting),” “I came up with this idea when…,” etc. Please also mention whether your project will receive course credit and for which course. The maximum word count for this section is 250 words.
• *Description of objectives and significance of your project: Please describe your your central scholarly question or the purpose of your project and explain the overall objectives for and significance of your project. To highlight how your project draws upon and/or is influenced by previous scholarship, you *must* use in-text citations of appropriate scholarly sources, followed by a full-citation bibliography of in-text citations and any other key sources. We recommend drawing upon three to five key sources in this section. You may use any method to indicate in-text citations but must also include a full bibliography (of any citation format). The maximum word count for this section is 600 words. Links to a full-text bibliography are not acceptable and will prevent your proposal from being reviewed.
• *Community-based Project Description: If you are pursuing a research or creative collaboration with a community-based organization to address a community-identified need, please describe how you will address the need identified by the community and what relationship you have with the community partner organization(s). The maximum word count for this section is 250 words.
• *Your project plan and expected outcomes: Please describe your project’s methodology or creative process. Be sure to describe any specialty materials, software or equipment, as well as access to archives, facilities, etc. that will be necessary for you to successfully execute and complete your project, and any preliminary results you have obtained up to this point (if applicable). If you need resources not available at Southern Miss (e.g., a unique instrument or manuscript) to complete the project, please include a statement in this section indicating the steps you have taken to secure access to those resources. If you have undergraduate co-applicants, please explain their roles in the proposed project. You should also address briefly how the outcomes will contribute to the scholarly/artistic community and/or to society. The maximum word count for this section is 500 words.
• *Dissemination of your project outcomes: Please describe how you will disseminate your project outcomes--e.g. presentations, publications, performances, juried shows, web pages, etc. This description should include specific venues (conferences, symposia, journals, festivals, juried shows, etc.) appropriate to your field, their locations, and dates, as applicable. The maximum word count for this section is 150 words.
• *Project completion timeline: After consulting your faculty mentor, please provide a detailed plan that includes milestones for the completion of your project during the period for which you seek financial support. You should describe a detailed plan that includes milestones for the major activities during the DCUR grant funding period and/or plans for project extensions after the funding period (if applicable). Please consider your course schedule for the project period when you develop your project timeline. The maximum word count for this section is 150 words.
• *Does your project require IRB or IACUC approval?
  If project requires IRB or IACUC approval, please enter protocol number below. If approval has not yet been received, please explain below when approval is expected or when the protocol will be submitted to the respective Board. The maximum word count is 300 words.

Upload Files

*CITI Training
All students applying for DCUR funds must have successfully completed the "CITI Common Course for USM Undergraduate and HON 300 students." Instructions and a link to the CITI training courses can be found here (https://www.usm.edu/undergraduate-research/citi-instructions.php). Please upload your certificate of completion of CITI training here. Only proposals with this certificate will be considered for funding.*

*Project Budget
You must download and fill out the Eagle SPUR "Budget Form" found here (https://www.usm.edu/undergraduate-research/eagle-scholars-program-undergraduate-research-eagle-spur.php). Upload the completed form (must be in Microsoft Word format) here. Only proposals with a completed budget template will be considered for funding.

*Mentor Support Statement
You must download and ask your mentor to fill out the “Mentor Support Form" found here (https://www.usm.edu/undergraduate-research/eagle-scholars-program-undergraduate-research-eagle-spur.php). Upload the completed form (must be in Microsoft Word format) here. Only proposals with a completed mentor support statement template will be considered for funding.

*Student Agreement

By submitting this grant application, I am indicating my agreement with/commitment to the following statements:

• My mentor provided guidance, but I have written this application myself.
• I did not use Chat GPT or other AI tools to generate the text for this application.
• I understand that a faculty committee of the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research at The University of Southern Mississippi will review this proposal, as well as my student transcript and GPA as available on SOAR.
• I agree to pursue my scholarly/creative project (at least 150 cumulative hours are expected) and/or my travel during the requested project period and will complete the project before I graduate from Southern Miss.
• If I am proposing to collect data from human or animal subjects, I understand that I must receive IRB or IACUC approval, respectively, before doing so.
• I will present the results of my scholarly/creative project at the Southern Miss Undergraduate Symposium on Research and Creative Activity (UGS; held every spring).
• I will use the funds consistent with my budget and will bring any significant budgetary changes (over $100) to the attention of DCUR for prior approval.
• I will submit a final report to DCUR at the end of the last semester for which funds are awarded. In the report, I will discuss the outcome of the project and detail how my DCUR grant funds were spent. If I received travel funding, I will include my approved travel voucher with my final report. I understand that any unused funds must be returned to DCUR.
• I understand that acceptance of a DCUR stipend may affect my financial aid package.
   I understand that DCUR will share grant recipients' names, majors, and project titles on social media.