VCU announces “Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Summer Fellowship Program”

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University has launched a new summer fellowship program to support research by undergraduate students.

The VCU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Summer Fellowship Program will take place this summer and is designed to encourage an interest in active learning.

To participate in the program, students must form a relationship with a faculty mentor in the student’s field of study or from another department. The student and mentor will collaborate on a summer research project. Interested students should visit http://www.research.vcu.edu/vpr/ugresources/forstudents.htm for tips on how approach a potential faculty mentor.

Participants will receive a $3,000 stipend, and participating faculty members will receive $500. The scholarships are open to all full-time, undergraduate freshmen, sophomores and juniors in all departments. Up to 14 research projects will be selected.

“We’re looking for serious people who are going to follow through. They need to be ready to commit to 20 to 40 hours a week for a 10- week period over the summer,” said Earl Dowdy, Ph.D., department of psychology.

Dowdy is part of a faculty advisory committee created by Provost Stephen D. Gottfredson and Francis L. Macrina, VCU’s vice president for research. The committee created the summer fellowship program in response to VCU’s 2020 strategic plan.

“What we are hoping for is that a student goes through this summer research opportunity and it changes their lives,” Dowdy said. “We want them to make a commitment to scientific research or other forms of creative work.”

Application materials and more information can be found at http://www.research.vcu.edu/vpr/fellowship.htm. The deadline for applications is March 6.  Successful applicants will be announced on April 15.