U of I offering undergraduate research stipends, mini-grants

By John O’Connell

University of Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho – A University of Idaho institute is now accepting applications for a USDA-funded program that awards stipends toward undergraduate research internships and mini-grants to support research projects.

Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) grants, offered through the Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem (IHHE), are open to U of I undergraduates of any major who are in good standing and have earned at least 16 credit hours related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

The deadline for undergraduates to apply for a $7,000 research stipend, including research support for a summer internship, is Dec. 20.

Undergraduates may also apply for mini-grants of up to $1,000 toward research supplies, instrument time, travel to field sites, etc. 

Students have used the mini-grants for purposes such as visiting laboratories of researchers from other institutions to learn new techniques.

The IHHE is funded with a five-year, $500,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. IHHE was founded by co-directors Edwin Lewis and Shirley Luckhart.

Lewis is a professor in the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology (EPPN) in U of I’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), and Luckhart has a joint appointment in EPPN and the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science.

Lewis is principal investigator of REEU, and Luckhart is co-principal investigator.

Students who apply for the REEU stipend must identify a faculty member or industry mentor under whom to work and submit a basic application that includes writing a paragraph about their proposal and how it fits into the focus of the chosen mentor’s research program.

There’s sufficient funding for the current application period to cover seven undergraduate research stipends and 15 mini-grants per year.

Recipients will be announced in late January, based on the novelty of their proposals and the feasibility of accomplishing their objectives.

Thus far, most of the program’s recipients have been mostly sophomores and juniors within CALS, the College of Natural Resources, the College of Science and the College of Engineering.

Most participants present their research off campus at various scientific meetings, about a third of the participants have had their name listed as an author of published research.

Furthermore, all awardees present their work during the annual IHHE Research Symposium, hosted in Moscow during April in recognition of World Health Day.

“For a student who is thinking about graduate school or a professional school, this is a really meaningful addition to how they qualify in their applications,” Lewis said.

The goal of REEU, which is operated under the Office of Research and Economic Development, is to train students to understand the connections among plant, animal and human health in complex, managed ecosystems.

Lewis and Luckhart both understand the value of research opportunities for undergraduates from personal experience.

“If I hadn’t been involved in research as an undergraduate, I would have never even thought about going to graduate school,” Lewis said. “I was the first college graduate from my family. I got involved in research, and it changed everything for me.”