Eagle Scholars Program for Undergraduate Research (Eagle SPUR)

 

EAGLE SPUR FORMS & DOCUMENTS Apply Here (InfoReady) Budget Form Examples of Successful Proposals Final Report Mentor Support Statement

The Eagle SPUR Program supports all aspects of undergraduate research and creative activity at Southern Miss with grants of up to $1,000 (and a travel supplement of up to $500, if applicable) for one- or two-semester projects and activities.

Eagle SPUR also supports community-engaged research and creative projects in which university and community members work collaboratively to address critical societal issues. Community-engaged projects directly incorporate community partners' expertise and lived experience into a research or creative project.

Grant money may be used for travel (e.g. to present at a conference, perform at a show, visit an archive, etc.), equipment, supplies, a stipend that allows you to devote time to your research project, etc. Competitions for the Eagle SPUR awards are held twice annually. The application deadlines are March 15 and October 15.

This program is supported by generous contributions from our alumnus, Mr. Donald Drapeau, and from the Southern Miss Vice President for Research.

 

Evaluation Criteria for Your Proposal

• Completeness of your proposal and adherence to all required content, format, and use of sources.
• Quality of your writing (including grammatical, spelling and/or punctuation errors) and organization of the proposal text.
• Thoroughness and clarity of your project description.
• Articulation of your project’s relevance for your scholarly or professional development.
• Detail and feasibility of your proposed project plan (approaches, methods, timeline).
• For community engaged projects: Demonstration that your project addresses a community-identified need and evidence of connection with relevant community organization(s).
• Appropriateness of length and timing of the requested funding period for the scope of your project.
• Appropriateness of your travel plans, if applicable (venue, location, transportation), 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.

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 representatives 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 reviewer scores.

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

Instructions for Your Project Description

Your statement about the origination of the project idea should also explain how this project fits into your broader educational and professional goals and 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 (which course?).

To support your statements pertaining to objectives and significance of your project, use in-text citations of appropriate sources, followed by a full-citation bibliography. If you are asking for travel support, please explain the purpose of your travel and the benefits 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.

In your project plan, you should include 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.

Your expected project outcomes should also address briefly how the outcomes will contribute to the scholarly/artistic community and/or to society.

Your discussion of dissemination of your project outcomes should include specific venues (conferences, symposia, journals, festivals, juried shows, etc.) appropriate to your field, their locations and dates as applicable.

You are expected to devote at least 150 cumulative hours to your project during the funding period. Please consider your course schedule for the project period when you develop your project timeline. Provide a detailed plan that includes milestones for the completion of your project during the period for which you seek funding. 

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
• *Phone Number
• *Major(s)
• Minor(s)
• *Projected Graduation Semester and Year
• *Affiliated with Honors College? McNair Program? Neither?
• Home Town and State
• *If your proposal is selected for funding, you will receive a DCUR t-shirt. Please select a size: (Small Medium Large X-Large 2XL 3XL 4XL I do not want a t-shirt.) 
• *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 (1-3 sentences explaining how you will use DCUR funds, e.g. travel during the project period, commodities, equipment, stipend): 150 word limit
• *The origin of and your interest in your project: 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.: 250 word limit
• *Description of objectives and significance of your project: Please describe your central scholarly question or the purpose of your project and explain the overall objectives for and significance of your project.: 600 word limit
• *Your project plan and expected outcomes: Please describe how you plan to approach your project (creative process, research design and/or methods), anticipated results, products, and/or other outcomes.: 500 word limit
• For community-engaged projects: An explanation of how your project addresses a need identified by the community and what relationship you have with community partner organization(s).
• *Dissemination of your project outcomes: Please describe how you will disseminate your project outcomes (e.g. presentations, publications, performances, juried shows, web pages).: 150 word limit
• *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.: 150 word limit
• *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.: 300 word limit

Upload Files

*CITI Training
All students applying for DCUR funds must have completed the basic CITI training course. Instructions and a link to the CITI training courses can be found here. 

*Project Budget
Please use the document "Budget Form" provided in the Competition Files. 

*Mentor Support Statement
The document "Mentor Support Form" provided in the Competition Files must be completed by your USM faculty mentor. 

*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 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) and will attend and participate in the professional development opportunities organized by DCUR.
• I will use the funds consistent with my budget and will bring any significant budgetary changes to the attention of DCUR for approval.
• I will submit a final report to DCUR within two weeks after the project period ends (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.
• 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.