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.
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!
Types of Awards
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$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.
- The 2023 summer funding application is now closed. Please check back in Fall 2023 for the 2024 summer funding deadline information.
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.
$250 maximum, based on expenses
- The Spring 2023 Application Deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 20, 2023.
- Students who receive Spring funding must document each expense and submit receipts for reimbursement before May 2, 2023.
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 individuals to perform services, such as research or production assistants. 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 Spring 2023 Application Deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 20, 2023.
- Students who receive Spring funding must document each expense and submit receipts for reimbursement before May 2, 2023.
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 individuals to perform services, such as research or production assistants. 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
$250 maximum
Please note: Student must apply to this award before presenting at a conference. Allow 4 weeks after you submit your request for application receipt, review, and notification. Applications for this academic year are now closed.
Limited funds (up to $250 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; 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 show 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 reimbursement for documented conference-related expenses up to a maximum of $250. Itemized receipts are required.
Link to the Student Application form
Faculty recommendation form
Congratulations to the Summer 2022 Provost Undergraduate Research Fellows!
Alex Bazarsky ’23
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Majors: Anthropology; Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies
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Title: "Excavation and Ground Verification of Lacanjá Tzeltal Post-LiDAR Analysis"
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Faculty mentor: Charles Golden
Jillian Brosofsky ’23
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Major: Psychology
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Title: "A Holocaust Survivor's Surprise Family, and What It Tells Us About the Future of Kin"
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Faculty mentor: Neil Swidey
Sungwon Cho ’23
- Majors: Biology; Chemical Biology
- Title: "Applications of azobenzene: Visible light-activated self-assembly of DNA duplexes and nanoporous solid-solid phase change materials for thermal energy storage"
- Faculty mentor: Grace Han
Elinor Eggers ’23
- Majors: Education Studies; African and African American Studies
- Title: "Justice or Just Us: What Racial Justice Means to Brandeisians"
- Faculty mentor: Derron Wallace
Claire Hou ’23
- Majors: English; Sociology
- Title: "Asian- American Visual Media History and Chinese- American Female Creators on TikTok"
- Faculty mentor: Dorothy Kim
MJ Ibrahim ’23
- Major: Health: Science, Society, and Policy
- Title: "How Does Being Undocumented Affect One's Experience in Higher Education?"
- Faculty mentor: Kristen Lucken
Zoe Lacroix ’23
- Majors: Health: Science, Society, and Policy; Sociocultural Anthropology
- Title: "Perspectives on Discrimination through Art"
- Faculty mentor: Patricia Alvarez Astacio
Christopher Li ’23
- Majors: East Asian Studies; History; International and Global Studies
- Title: "Slurp! From Working Meal to National Symbol – An Analysis of Post WWII Ramen Through Japanese Literature and Movie"
- Faculty mentor: Amy Singer
Eric Liu ’24
- Major: International and Global Studies
- Title: "The Return of Ideology: Wang Huning and China's New Cultural Confidence"
- Faculty mentor: Professor Chandler Rosenberger
Frank Liu ’23
- Majors: Computer Science; Applied Mathematics
- Title: "Curriculum and Causal GCL Brings More Robustness to Out-of-Distribution Graphs"
- Faculty mentor: Chuxu Zhang
Julia Plaisted ’23
- Major: Anthropology; Environmental Studies
- Title: "Analysis of Pipe Artifacts from Croatoan Archeological Site"
- Faculty mentor: Charlotte Goudge
Sasha Soboleva ’23
- Major: Linguistics
- Title: "Language Ideology and Identity of Teenagers In Cusco: How Quechua and Spanish Languages Coexist In The Classroom Environment"
- Faculty mentor: Patricia Alvarez Astacio
Grace Wang ’23
- Majors: Psychology; Neuroscience
- Title: "The Effect of TikTok on College Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
- Faculty mentor: Ellen Wright