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About Us

The Emerging Scholars Program encourages early undergraduate students who are interested in adding a research experience to their curriculum at the freshman or sophomore year to apply for this entry-level program.

Awards

  • $1000 for Students,
  • $500 at the beginning of Spring, $500 at the beginning of Fall. If you fail to complete the program you will be put into repayment to UF for the full amount.

Eligibility

  • Freshmen or Sophomore status only
  • Must have NO previous university level research experience
  • Must identify a research mentor for sponsorship

DATES AND DEADLINES

Please review the dates and deadlines below.  The blue titles are clickable links that will take you to the submissions.  Please feel free to reach out to CUR at cur.aa.ufl.edu if you have any questions.

  • September 20th, 2024 – Applications Open
  • November 22th, 2024 – Applications Close
  • Mid-January, 2025 – Orientation Session

Students must submit their application and supplemental materials.  Accepted students will be notified in December and must attend an orientation session early January.

Students applying to the Emerging Scholars Program will apply directly to the Center for Undergraduate Research.  When submitting your application, please provide the following items:

  • Description of Research Project : Upload a description of your research project; Max 500 words
  • Letter of Support from Research Mentor : Upload a letter of support from your Proposed Faculty Research Mentor

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

ORIENTATION

Each Emerging Scholar is required to attend an orientation.  Orientation is a way for CUR staff to get to know the students and for the students to be able to have an open forum for questions.  During this orientation all details of the program requirements will be covered. To accommodate all schedules, several dates and times are available.  See the Dates and Deadlines below for more information.

PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS

Each Emerging Scholar is required to make a presentation at the University of Florida Undergraduate Research Symposium by presenting a poster or an original creative work. You will be sent directions on how to submit your abstract and the required format before the deadline.  Your abstract and poster must be approved by your mentor before submission.

PAPER REQUIREMENTS

Every Emerging Scholar is required to meet the publication requirement.  Scholars must submit by 11:59 pm on deadline day or will forfeit the final stipend. Mentors decide the option most suitable for the scholar, and their approval is required for all publication submissions.

There are three options to meet this requirement: 

Submit a research paper in the Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUR) format by the listed deadline. Submissions to JUR open in March, so this is a great option for working towards a publication.

You may use this option to satisfy your paper requirement if your mentor plans to submit a paper for publication in a professional journal with you listed as a co-author prior to the end of the academic year.

If you and your mentor determine that the project did not progress to the point of meriting a journal article or you were unable to collect enough data to warrant a full publication, you must discuss this with your mentor. You will then write a progress report in JUR format where you describe all of the information you do have and detail the entire project, work completed, any results, and problems encountered.