Provost’s Fund for Student Research

Provost's Fund for Student Research Application

Guidelines and Application Instructions 

The Office of Academic Affairs awards grants for student research through the Provost’s Fund for Student Research. Grants are awarded in the Fall and Spring of each academic year.  

The Provost’s Fund for Student Research will award up to $50,000, with an approximate 50/50 percentage split between two funding rounds. Students may apply for grants for any legitimate purpose that would enhance their research efforts. For example, grant money could be used to access special research collections, data compilation, the purchase of equipment unique to the student’s project, or for research presentations.  

Nature and scope of the project: 

The faculty/student collaboration in the project is flexible. The two models that have been used commonly are: 

• Faculty-directed projects where the student works with the faculty member in a substantial way; or 
• Student-directed projects where the faculty member serves as mentor and advisor

Guidelines: 

• Maximum grant amount: $1,200 per student and $1,500 per project, and generally not more than $240 of a student award or $300 of a project award may include research costs.
• Student applicants must be in good academic standing 
• Funding should be targeted at research, publication, conference, and presentation expenses.
• The final project should carry the student’s name(s).
• The final project should formally acknowledge the support of the University. 
• Travel expenses are limited to the student expenses for conference fees, transportation, and hotel (2-night maximum unless justified in application)—Faculty conference and travel expenses are not allowable.
• Grant funds must be expended prior to June 15, 2024. 

Timeline: 

The PFSR Committee will email notice and application instructions to faculty at the start of each application round:

• Application deadline round one: early each October (Awards made on or about October 31) 
• Application deadline round two: early each February (Awards made on or about February 27) 

How to Apply: 

Faculty must submit applications for the student(s) on their behalf. Please submit applications through this link: Provost's Fund for Student Research Application (You will be required to sign in with your RWU credentials).

Complete the above linked form with the following information.

• Project Name
• Faculty Sponsor(s) Name(s) and Email(s)
• Student Name(s) and Emails(s)
• Purpose for request including conference/competition information, if applicable
• Requested Budget Amounts

AND then upload the application as a single PDF*. The application must include:

• Abstract (100-word max),
• Narrative description of the project written as to be accessible to non-specialists (1-2 pages),
• Budget with specifics of how this grant money would be used, with as much supporting material and detailed information as possible, and details of any other funding received, 
• Letter of support from faculty mentor/sponsor that includes discussion of the appropriateness the grant request to the project and the budget, and
• Optional second letter of support.

*Please note:  The application PDF must use the following naming convention:  Student Last Name, Student First Name-ProvostFundApp2024-2025.pdf, using capital letters to delimit words rater than spaces. For example, an application from Lisa Quinn would be named Quinn,Lisa-ProvostFundApp20243-2025.pdf.

Applications to the Provost’s Fund for Student Research are reviewed by a committee comprised of the Provost (or their designee), the Chairperson of the University Life Committee of the Faculty Senate (or their designee), and a second faculty member selected by the Senate Elections Committee. 

Recent Awards:

RWU students have received Provost Fund for Student Research grants to present their research or participate in competitions at:

American Aquaculture Conference, San Antonio, Texas

American Chemical Society Conference, New Orleans

American Psychology-Law Society Conference, Los Angeles

American Society for Microbiology Microbe 2024, Atlanta 

American Society of Civil Engineers Legal Affairs Workshop, Honolulu

American Society of Mechanical Engineers E-Fest, Forest, Va.

Associated Schools of Construction Student Competition, Albany, N.Y.

Associated Schools of Construction International Conference , Auburn, Ala.

Associated Schools of Construction Student Competition, Sparks, Nev.

Benthic Ecology Meeting, Charleston, S.C.

Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, CAN

Gathering 4 Gardner Conference, Atlanta

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Student Conference, Villanova, Pa.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) MIT UTRC 2023, Cambridge, Mass.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Photonics Conference, Orlando, Fla.

International Mass Timber Conference, Portland, Ore. 

Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Francisco

JordanCon, Atlanta 

National Association of Home Builders Student Competition, Las Vegas

National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference, Chicago

National Conference of the Popular Culture Association, Chicago

National Model Arab League, Washington, DC

New England Historical Association, Fall 2023, New Haven, Conn.

New England Water Environment Association Annual Conference, Boston

Northeast Algal Symposium, Middletown, R.I.

Conference of the American Society of Engineering Education, Fairfield, Conn.

NSA Annual Meeting, Charlotte, NC

NYS Green Building Conference, Syracuse, NY

Ocean Sciences Meeting, New Orleans, LA

Robotics Summit and Expo, Boston

UC Berkeley Model United Nations, San Francisco

Contact Lisa Quinn (lquinn@rwu.edu) with any questions.