Program Description: UConn undergraduates in all majors can apply for up to $2000 in funding to support projects that represent the legacy of the UConn Co-op’s commitment to public engagement, innovation, and social impact, including service initiatives, creative endeavors, research, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship. Applications are accepted twice per year in October and February.

Who Can Participate?: Undergraduate students

Benefits to Students: The Change Grant provides recipients an opportunity to effect change and make an impact on issues, problems, topics, or questions that matter to them. In addition to funding, recipients receive support from a project mentor and from the Office of Undergraduate Research, as well as join a cohort of like-minded students who strive to make a difference.

Website: ugradresearch.uconn.edu/change/

Resource Description: The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is a resource for all undergraduates in all majors on all UConn campuses seeking to enrich their undergraduate experiences through participation in research, scholarship, and creative activity. OUR helps students find and develop opportunities to engage in independent or collaborative research with faculty members and other mentors working across the University's academic disciplines. Offering a range of advising services, online resources, funding opportunities, and events, OUR supports students from their initial steps to get involved through the sharing of their discoveries with the university community and beyond.

Who Can Participate?: Undergraduate students

Benefits to Students: It can be intimidating to think about how to get involved in research at a large university like UConn, but OUR is here to help! Advising and workshops will help you develop a strategy to get involved. Funding programs provide the financial support that make projects possible. Involvement in undergraduate research and creative activity will help you build research-specific skills and knowledge, but also transferable skills that will be useful regardless of your next steps - skills like communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and leadership.

Website: ugradresearch.uconn.edu

Program Description: SURF awards support full-time undergraduate students who are engaged in summer research or creative projects under the supervision of a University of Connecticut faculty member. SURF awards are available to students in all majors at all UConn campuses. The deadline is early in the spring semester; awards are made for the summer. The maximum total amount awarded for SURF awards is $4,500 ($4,000 stipend for the student researcher and up to $500 for consumables associated with the project).

Who Can Participate?: Undergraduate students

Benefits to Students: SURF Awards provide undergraduate students the opportunity to devote themselves full time to research or creative projects that are meaningful to them. Through more intensive summer engagement, students are both able to make significant progress on their projects and test out whether this type of engagement and inquiry is something they wish to pursue beyond graduation through graduate education and/or career options.

Website: ugradresearch.uconn.edu/surf/

Program Description: The UConn IDEA Grant program awards funding of up to $4000 to support student-designed projects including: artistic & creative endeavors; community service initiatives; entrepreneurial ventures & prototype development; research projects; and other innovative, student-driven projects. Undergraduates in all majors at all UConn campuses can apply. Students may apply individually or as part of a small group working collaboratively on a project. Applications are accepted twice per year, in December for summer funding, and in March for academic year funding.

Who Can Participate?: Undergraduate students

Benefits to Students: The UConn IDEA Grant program provides students an opportunity to engage in a meaningful project that they design, aligned with their goals and interests. The program is designed to provide valuable learning experiences that help students explore a topic of interest, develop skills that prepare them for a career or graduate study, test out career and/or academic options, and build a network of like-minded peers engaged in innovative and creative projects. This is a chance for students to flex their creative muscles, innovate, and explore.

Website: ugradresearch.uconn.edu/idea/