About MURACE Summer research funding
The opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in mentored research or creative activities is an important part of Georgia College & State University’s emphasis on transformative learning experiences. Many students engage in scholarship during the academic year, but the most intensive and rewarding work often occurs during the summer months when both the student and their mentor can devote more attention to their work without the pressures of regular semester commitments. This can be very challenging for students who need to earn income over the summer to support themselves.
MURACE Summer Scholarship Funding provides Georgia College & State University undergraduate students the opportunity to work on mentored research or creative projects for a minimum of 8 weeks over the summer while getting compensated for their time. By the end of the summer, students should be prepared to share their work at the Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC) as well as a conference in the discipline of the project. Projects from all disciplines are welcome.
The 2025 MURACE Summer Scholarship award amount before taxes and mandated deductions is $3,000 for each student recipient and $1,000 for mentors. Any full-time member of the teaching faculty is eligible to serve as a mentor for undergraduate students. Faculty must be actively engaged in mentoring students in-person and on-site at GCSU for the duration of the 8 weeks or more. Faculty may mentor any number of student research projects, but can only receive a maximum of $2,000 for mentoring multiple students who receive funding. An additional $500 is available to purchase supplies related to the project.
Application Information Details
To apply, students must fill out the MURACE Summer Research Funding Application before April 14th, 2025. Faculty mentors should approve their student's submission and agree to serve as their mentor by April 18th, 2025. The faculty mentor Agreement & Approval form will be sent to interested faculty members after a student has listed them on their Summer Research Funding application.
If you and/or your faculty mentor needs assistance with writing this application, please contact Dr. Tsu-Ming Chiang via email at murace@gcsu.edu. Contact should be made at least one week prior to the application deadline to ensure appropriate review. Application completion assistance is NOT provided by personnel of MURACE.
FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT DEADLINE
Recipient Notification Deadline TBD
Guidelines for Acceptable Projects
In reviewing applications, acceptable projects will include at least one of the following:
- Original scholarship designed in conjunction with the primary mentor, to which the student will contribute substantial research and analysis or application of appropriate creative skills in the case of creative activities.
- Original projects designed by the student that require oversight and support from the faculty mentor(s).
- Community-based, participatory-action scholarship in which the project responds to research or creative activity in collaboration with a community partner.
Student Funding Requirements
- Students must be on-site at GCSU and devote a minimum of 320 hours over 8 weeks or more to their research project.
- Student may NOT take in-person summer courses during the 8-week period (at minimum) in which they are funded to complete research.
- Students may not submit team applications. If multiple students are working with the same faculty mentor, each student must submit a separate project application demonstrating their unique contribution.
- If appropriate for the research project, students must apply to the Institute Research Board (IRB) or Animal Use Proposal (IACUC) for research approval.
- Before beginning the research project, funding recipients must complete the MURACE GeorgiaView course (click for instructions to register for course)
- Funding recipients must present scholarship (i.e., research or creative activity) at the Fall 2025 Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC) in November at Oxford College and at Research Day 2026 at Georgia College & State University. They must also provide detailed plans for presenting scholarship at an appropriate conference in their discipline, including the name and description of the conference, due date for submitting a proposal, and the date of the conference.
- Funding recipients must submit a copy of their final scholarship to MURACE in an appropriate medium along with a copy of an abstract on the research project ready to submit for presentation at conferences.
IMPORTANT: Students will be required to complete their research and all above requirements even if the full funding has been distributed. Failure of the student to complete the project will result in forfeiture of the funding and a hold will be placed against the student until the funding is repaid. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the faculty mentor to ensure that the student researcher is making progress. If, in the opinion of the mentor, the student is not making progress on the project, the mentor should notify the Associate Provost for Student Engagement and Academic Excellence, Dr. Kevin Bucholtz, and the Director of MURACE, Dr. Tsu-Ming Chiang, immediately.