Undergraduate Research Fellowships

URF funding may only be used for equipment, tools, supplies or services required to conduct a project. URF funding may be used for travel to conduct research, but not to present a paper at an external conference. If you are searching for funding to present your research at a conference, please see our page, "Funding your Research" for ideas on where to get this kind of funding. You may also want to apply for the Rising S.T.A.R. grant, or contact ugresearch@txstate.edu to inquire if Honors currently has funding available to send students to conferences. The link to apply for Honors funding is here.  Quanta Services awards include a student and faculty stipend automatically and may be used for additional expenses as well. 

The URF committee encourages undergraduates (not just Honor students) from all colleges and majors to apply. URF recipients must complete their projects within one academic year of receiving the award. In addition, recipients must be enrolled as undergraduates for the duration of the project.

• All majors and engaged in all types of research
• Encourages applications from sophomores and juniors who are conducting research for the honors thesis or for thesis projects in their majors. 
• First-year students are welcome to apply, too, but priority is usually given to students who have a record of scholarly excellence and mentoring relationships with faculty at Texas State. 
• Seniors, too, are encouraged to apply; however, all fellowship recipients must complete and present their work while they are still actively enrolled as undergraduates. Seniors who are planning to graduate before completing their research or who will not be returning to Texas State to present their work are ineligible.
• Past recipients are also eligible to apply for a second fellowship, but the limit is two fellowships per student, and preference is usually given to first-time applicants. 

Fellowship recipients have until the end of the academic calendar year to use their funds, and are expected to present their research to the Texas State community soon after completion.

Recipients are required to present their research, and may choose to utilize one or more venues:

• While many recipients choose to present their work at the Honors Thesis Forum or the Undergraduate Research Conference, the fellowship committee also encourages applicants to suggest original ideas for presenting their work. 
• Gallery of the Common Experience: recipients may request to display their creative projects in the housed in the Honors College
• Host a dialogue in the Honors Coffee Forum. 
• TXSTUR the Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Research at Texas State.

Recent and past recipients may be asked to participate in informational workshops for new applicants or to otherwise serve as ambassadors for the fellowship program.

All application materials must be submitted via the electronic application below. Applications can only be submitted once and cannot be saved and edited at a later date. To apply, you will need to prepare the following required materials prior to starting the electronic application.  

1. Proposal: Your proposal should introduce the questions or problems that motivate your research and explain how your project will address those questions.  Be sure to include an appropriate amount of context for readers outside of your fields.  This might entail, for example, a brief review of relevant literature, a description of a theoretical framework, or a historical summary.
If your research is part of a group or faculty-led project, please make clear in your proposal what your individual or original contribution will be (maximum 750 words).

*Special instructions for students in Science and Engineering: please include discussions of methods, analysis, interpretation, and possible findings, as well as a timeline for your research project in your Proposal document. In your Project Timeline, please discuss your plans for presenting and publishing your research, as well as any plans for continuing your research beyond your URF project. (Maximum word count for combined proposal is 1250 words).

2. Project Timeline: Your project timeline should provide a stage-by-stage description of your research agenda and project your completion date.  In the project timeline, you should also discuss your plans for presenting your research to the Texas State community, and, if applicable, your intentions for publishing your work (maximum 500 words).

3. Budget Narrative: Include the dollar amount you are requesting, up to $1,000, a brief description of your research expenses, and an accounting table (one page).

4. Academic CV or Resume

5. Letter of Recommendation: Your faculty research sponsor should be prepared to submit a letter of recommendation on your behalf. The letter of recommendation should comment not only on your general academic abilities, but also on your potential as a researcher and on the quality of your research proposal.  Therefore, your sponsor should be intimately familiar with your project prior to drafting your letter.  After you submit the application form, the fellowship committee will use the contact information provided to request a letter directly from your sponsor. Letters of recommendation must be submitted no later than Wed. Oct.3 at 5:00PM. Please notify your faculty research sponsor of this requirement and deadline.

See bottom of page for sample applications.

For more information please contact the Honors College at ugresearch@txstate.edu.

The Honors College offers three preparatory URF workshops per semester to help students prepare their applications. 

Contact Ron Haas at rmh109@txstate.edu for details if you cannot attend.

Support for these awards derives from several university and non-university entities including the following:

• Quanta Services Fellowships: Supported by a generous donation from the company.
• Honors College: Funding available to support Honors Thesis research.
• Office of the Provost: Funding available to support research in any field.
• Freeman Ranch Fund: Funding available to support research that is conducted at the Freeman Ranch.
• Tri-M Foundation Research: Funding available to support research and creative projects in the media and arts.
• The Division of Research General Research Fund: Funding available from the Associate Vice President of the Division of Research to support research in any field.
• College and Specific Fund: Multiple allotments available, funding from various colleges.

Proposals may qualify for funding from more than one source. Applicants for URF funding can indicate any special funding category (such as Freeman Ranch, Honors Thesis, College of Liberal Arts, etc...) for which they are applying during the online application process.