Letters of Support

Externally funded research grants often provide a natural opportunity to engage undergraduate students in research. Research funding can be sought to support students during the academic year or in a more concentrated summer research experience. Undergraduate research can have a significant impact on student interest in pursuing advanced degrees or future research positions. Student participation in undergraduate research has also been shown to create significant increases in students’ ability to analyze complex problems, analyze and interpret data, develop research reports and presentations, and see connections among multiple disciplines/fields1.

Faculty providing summer undergraduate research opportunities as a part of their grant proposal can partner and leverage existing summer enrichment opportunities as a part of their proposal. In addition, a pre and post-research experience assessment template/plan is available. Depending on your research interests, there may be other programs on campus that might make excellent partners (e.g. the Program for Women in Science and Engineering, Science Bound, Carver Academy, Honors Program, etc.) For additional information or to obtain letters of collaboration/support, please contact program directors or szbar@iastate.edu.

 

1Assessment data from 2010 PWSE Summer Intern Program, Iowa State University