Honors College Moves to Rolling Deadline for Research Team Grant Proposals

Philip Thomas

Faculty working with groups of student researchers can apply for the Honors College Research Team Grant. Here, biomedical engineering professor Morten Jensen (at right, in red shirt) meets with his team.

Faculty: Are you supporting a team of students who are working together to design a new piece of equipment? Coordinating a group of students who are exploring the financial, health and time-based reasons that determine family meal plans? Or are you wanting to reconstruct the history of a small American town using materials located in three different university archives? Faculty across campus who are working on projects with multiple objectives are invited to submit proposals for the Honors College Research Team Grant. 

These grants will support up to four students and up to two faculty (if each faculty member oversees two students) for up to two semesters. The grant will award $750 per student each semester to faculty mentors, and $750 per semester to each student, with a total of up to $9,000 in funding over two semesters. 

Faculty choose the student team members, who must be honors students with a 3.50 grade point average (3.33 for first-semester students in Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design) and who have completed six hours of honors courses at the time of the faculty member's grant application.

The Honors College will now accept applications on a rolling basis throughout the fiscal year. Awards will be made until funds are depleted. Depending on the size of the team, the Honors College expects to support 16-25 team grants each fiscal year. Proposals received and approved within four weeks of the start of a semester can begin that same semester if all research compliance requirements have been met. Otherwise, as with other research grants, the funding period will begin one semester after the project has been awarded. 

The grant makes it easier for faculty to work with multiple students at once, promoting efficiency, but also expands students' perspective as well. 

"With the team experiences we've funded so far, the group learning sessions have been highly effective, because the students are hearing about research from multiple perspectives," said Jennie Popp, an associate dean of the Honors College. These projects also finesse students' teamwork skills, "which is important, because in the real world, they're going to have to work with others."

For more information and to access the online grant application form please visit the Research Team Grant page on the Honors College website. Specific questions can be addressed to Jennie Popp at jhpopp@uark.edu or 575-7381.