Faculty and Staff

Mizzou Advantage Undergraduate Research Teams

Call for Proposals

Mizzou Advantage Undergraduate Research Teams bring faculty, staff and students from across campus together to work on problem-based research projects. The program hopes to inspire out-of-the-box collaborations among typically unrelated fields of study in order to explain phenomena, imagine solutions, and raise questions in ways not possible through the lens of any single discipline. Unconventional and unexpected pairings—engineering and art or computer science and psychology, for example—are welcome and encouraged.

Program goals:

Create a problem-based learning community
Increase student engagement in the research process
Offer content knowledge, along with teamwork and problem-solving skills
Develop networks and inspire innovative collaboration among faculty and students

Students receive an $800 scholarship. Each faculty or staff mentor receives a $500 professional development award per semester; the project receives $300 per semester for project expenses (e.g., printing, supplies, mileage, printing a research poster).

Proposals are due on November 15th, March 15th, and June 15th prior to the semester for which they are proposed. Please send queries and proposals to rothl@missouri.edu. Full guidelines, financial benefits, and examples of past projects: www.missouri.edu/mizzou-advantage/educational-programs/

Proposal process:

To propose a team for the upcoming semester, faculty and/or staff from several different disciplines must submit a proposal together. The lead PI must be a faculty member. The proposal need be no longer than four pages and should include the following:

Project title, description, and a brief statement explaining how it relates to Mizzou Advantage
Information about the mentors (background, skills, and resources that may benefit the project)
Anticipated outcomes of the project
The preferred semester(s) and the number of undergraduate students to be involved in the project (three to five is recommended)
A clearly defined plan of 1) how mentors will engage students as individuals and as a group, and 2) duties, expectations, and projected timeline, including the necessary training and literature review to ensure the needed level of knowledge for students to contribute meaningfully to team discussions
Criteria for recruitment and selection (desired majors, prerequisites and relevant coursework, prior research experience)
A proposed budget for project expenses (a cap of $300 for one-semester projects and $500 for two-semester projects)

The goal is to assemble an interdisciplinary team of students with differing academic backgrounds, and preference will be given to collaborations involving traditionally unrelated disciplines.

Successful one-semester projects may apply for additional funding to extend the project another semester.

Proposals will be reviewed by the Mizzou Advantage Educational Advisory Committee. Previous undergraduate research team project descriptions are available for review at http://www.missouri.edu/mizzou-advantage/educational-programs/index.php.