Provost's Undergraduate Research Fund
The Provost's Undergraduate Research Fund supports a Brandeis student's research or creative scholarship during the summer or academic semester.
Academic Year Funding is available for research-related expenses and conference presentation expenses. See the Senior Thesis Funding, Academic Year Funding, and Conference Presentation Funding accordions below.
To apply for a Provost's Research Fellowship or grant, applicants must be current a Brandeis undergraduate who will be an enrolled undergraduate during the award period. Each student must have a Brandeis faculty mentor who will oversee their research project. The program supports projects in all disciplines, including all areas of the creative arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and interdisciplinary projects.
Please note that you first must login to your Brandeis Gmail to gain access to the application forms below. Previous recipients are listed on our Recent Awards page.
Students who have questions about these awards can contact Margaret Lynch, director of Undergraduate-Faculty Research Partnerships.
Digging Up History: Alex Bazarsky '23
For many college students, an ideal trip to Mexico means kicking back on a beach, digging their toes in the sand. For Alex Bazarsky ’23, a double major in anthropology and Latin American studies with a minor in art history, it meant digging up history deep in a remote forest.
In the summer of 2020, Bazarsky participated in a virtual archeology internship under the mentorship of professor Charles Golden, developing skills in lidar, a remote sensor technology that can create a nearly complete picture of ruins otherwise hidden to the naked eye.
After two years of research, Golden asked Bazarsky to join his team in Chiapas, Mexico, excavating in-person. Her two summers of research were funded through the Provost's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Read more in BrandeisNow!
Where is Alex Bazarsky '23 now?
Alex is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology, with a focus on the Archaeology sub-discipline, at the University of California, San Diego.
Types of Awards
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$300 maximum
Please note: Student must apply to this award before presenting at a conference. Allow 3 weeks after you submit your request for application receipt, review, and notification. The program closes when the yearly funding is depleted or on the extended deadline of March 25, 2025 whichever occurs first.
Limited funds (up to $300 per student) are available to undergraduates from all disciplines to enable them to present their research or creative project at an academic or professional disciplinary conference. Student's work must have been accepted at an academic conference; student applicants must be the first and primary author and presenter of the abstract summarizing the research or creative project. A letter of recommendation is required from a faculty mentor.
To be eligible for funding, in their application students must submit written documentation of acceptance of their presentation or exhibit at the conference for which funding is requested. Student must apply to this award before attending the conference. Retroactive funding for a past conference presentation is not available. Funding is disbursed as a financial reimbursement for documented and itemized conference-related expenses up to a maximum of $300. Itemized and dated receipts are required.
Link to the Student Application form
Faculty recommendation form
$250 maximum, based on expenses
- The Fall Application Deadline is 5 pm ET on September 25, 2024.
- Students who receive Fall funding must document each expense and submit itemized and dated receipts for reimbursement before January 15.
- The Spring Application Deadline is 5 pm ET on January 15, 2025.
- Students who receive Spring funding must document each expense and submit itemized and dated receipts for reimbursment before May 15.
Limited funds (up to $250) are available to seniors writing senior theses. Standard costs for copying and binding theses cannot be funded. Expenses incurred or submitted for reimbursement after the deadlines specified for each semester are not eligible for reimbursement.
Note that this fund does not support the hiring of students or other individuals to perform services, such as research or production assistants. (Services rendered from a business vendor may be eligible.) The fund can support project expenses such as research supplies, equipment, interviewee compensation for IRB-approved projects, and expenses related to research at an off-campus site.
Weight will be given to the candidate's summary and to the faculty thesis advisor's recommendation. If a student is doing research on a project that receives funding from another grant, they need to request funding to reimburse only those expenses which cannot be covered by the grant funds.
Application Form
Application Checklist
Your completed application should contain the following:
- Student applicant information
- One-page funding justification summary: Summarize your research or creative project and explain at a high level how the requested funds will be used.
- Itemized budget request: Please each item, unit cost, the number of each item, and total cost. Ordinary school supplies and costs for copying and binding theses are outside the scope of this program. Students who need support for school supplies can reach out to the Student Support Services team.
- A resume
- Recommendation from your thesis advisor (Brandeis faculty). Students should direct their thesis advisor to fill out the Letter of Recommendation Form
$250 maximum, based on expenses
- The Fall Application Deadline is 5 pm ET on September 25, 2024.
- Students who receive Fall funding must document each expense and submit itemized and dated receipts for reimbursement before January 15.
- The Spring Application Deadline is 5 pm ET on January 15, 2025.
- Students who receive Spring funding must document each expense and submit itemized and dated receipts for reimbursment before May 15.
Limited funds (up to $250) are available to students engaged in non-thesis research or creative projects during the Academic Year (Fall and Spring Semesters). Expenses incurred or submitted for reimbursement after the deadlines specified for each semester are not eligible for reimbursement.
Note that this fund does not support the hiring of students or other individuals to perform services, such as research or production assistants. (Services rendered from a business vendor may be eligible.) The fund can support project expenses such as research supplies, equipment, interviewee compensation for IRB-approved projects, and expenses related to research at an off-campus site.
Weight will be given to the candidate's summary and to the faculty recommendation. If a student is doing research on a project that receives funding from another grant, they need to request funding to reimburse only those expenses which cannot be covered by the grant funds.
Application form
Application Checklist
Your completed application should contain the following:
- Student information
- One-page funding justification summary: Summarize your research or creative project and explain at a high level how the requested funds will be used.
- Itemized budget request: Please each item, unit cost, the number of each item, and total cost. Ordinary school supplies are outside the scope of this program. Students who need support for school supplies can reach out to the Student Support Services team.
- A resume
- Recommendation from your thesis advisor (Brandeis faculty). Students should direct their thesis advisor to fill out the Letter of Recommendation Form
$5,000 stipends
Summer Provost's Undergraduate Research Fellowships are $5,000 stipends to support undergraduates conducting a research or creative project with the mentorship of a Brandeis faculty mentor.
Students who receive summer funding are expected to dedicate intensive effort toward the project for 7-10 weeks during the summer and participate in the summer community of Brandeis undergraduate researchers.
Application will reopen in 2025.
Eligibility
- Brandeis undergraduates in good academic standing who will continue as undergraduate students in the subsequent Fall semester. Current first-year, sophomore, and junior undergraduates can apply, as well as seniors who will graduate in December of the year that the fellowship is awarded.
- Students are required to fill out an I-9 in order to receive the stipend. International Students are encouraged to review the steps for beginning on-campus employment found on the International Students and Scholars Office website.
Your completed application should contain the following:
- Student applicant information
- Transcript (unofficial is acceptable)
- One-page resume that highlights your qualifications to conduct this research
- Research proposal (2,500 words or fewer, excluding reference list)
- Organize your proposal as follows:
- Project summary (a 250-word overview of your proposed project)
- Background and Introduction to the research or creative topic and project
- Project aims and goals (specify exactly what you plan to do)
- Methods or approach (how you plan to do it)
- Project output, outcomes and deliverables
- Project timeline (outline what you will work on and when)
- Project significance and impact
- References cited (recommended if standard in the research area)
- Contingency plan
- If your project involves travel, field- or laboratory-based research, in-person human or animal research, or in-person group studio-based projects or performances, please submit a brief contingency research plan in the event that travel and research restrictions are in effect in Summer 2023 for the location of your project.
- Mentoring plan
- How often will you meet with your faculty mentor over the summer?
- Will you be able to attend group research meetings or communicate with other researchers or creative professionals in your field of interest?
- What type of training will your mentor provide (either directly or by referral to other people or resources)?
- Students should direct their faculty mentors to submit their letter of recommendation via the Faculty Letter of Recommendation Form (Brandeis email required to access).
- Fellowship awardees will be required to submit a project summary at the end of the summer and present their research to the Brandeis community at the URCC Symposium.
If you have general questions or want to discuss your application, contact Margaret Lynch, director of Undergraduate-Faculty Research Partnerships.
Congratulations to the Summer 2024 Provost Undergraduate Research Fellows!
Benjamin Lichter '25
- Major: Music, Computer Science
- Title: "Summer String Quartet"
- Faculty mentor: David Rakowski
Caspian Keys '25
- Majors: Neuroscience, Biology
- Title: "Activity Homeostasis of Circadian Genes in the Mouse Neocortex"
- Faculty mentor: Sacha Nelson
Cooper Gottfried '25
- Majors: Environmental Studies, Computer Science
- Title: "Investigating LULCC (Land Use and Land Cover Change) and its implications on environmental factor"
- Faculty mentor: Charlie Chester
Dalya Koller '25
- Major: Comparative Literature
- Title: " A Comparative Analysis and New Approach to the Translation of the Song of Songs"
- Faculty mentor: Madadh Richey
Daniel Block '25
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Major: Environmental Studies, American Studies
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Title: " On The Eighth Day: the Genesis of Agriculture in the American South, its Fall from Ecological Eden, and its Revitalized Search for Yeoman Redemption"
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Faculty mentor: Maura Jane Farrelly
Daniel House '26
- Major: Physics
- Title: "Exploring the Secrets of Sub-Atomic Particles: Building the Next-Generation Detector"
- Faculty mentor: Gabriella Sciolla
Danny DeMilia '25
- Majors: Environmental Studies, Health: Science, Society, and Policy
- Title: "Validation of Striped Bass Age by Spontaneous Amino Acid Racemization"
- Faculty mentor: Sally Warner
Erica Egleston '25
- Major: History, Computer Science
- Title: "The Bostonian 'Barbary Coast': Ottoman Diasporic Communities in the North Shore, 1890 - 1920"
- Faculty mentor: Amy Singer
Gauri Gajeshwar '25
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Majors: Biochemistry, Biology
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Title: "Controlling the Collective Behavior of Microtubules using Self Organized Turing Patterns of MinDE Proteins"
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Faculty mentor: Guillaume Duclos
Gretchen Wang '26
- Majors: English, Creative Writing
- Title: "Identity in a Time of Global Education: International Education in the Context of US-Taiwan Relations, through a case study of the International Bilingual School at Tainan Science Park"
- Faculty mentor: Howie Tam
Nana Li '25
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Major: Sociology, Computer Science
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Title: "Guiding the Narrative: Chinese Government Intervention in Weibo Discourse Amid COVID-19 Controversies"
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Faculty mentor: Chandler Rosenberger
Vinnie (Davinia) Wengert '25
- Majors: Media: Society, Culture, and Politics
- Title: "Standom: A New Era of Digital Fandom"
- Faculty mentor: Dorothy Kim
Vivian Dong '24
- Majors: Economics, Psychology
- Title: "Risk Aversion and Job Market Outcomes Outside of the Gender Binary"
- Faculty mentor: Ryan Westphal
Yukun Zhang '25
- Majors: Computer Science
- Title: " Predictive Analysis of Monomer Assembly Dynamics using Graph Neural Networks "
- Faculty mentor: Pengyu Hong