Summer Undergraduate Research Award

The Living Earth Collaborative^TM at Washington University in St. Louis is dedicated to advancing the knowledge of biodiversity and to ensuring the future of earth’s species in their many forms. Washington University, the Missouri Botanical Gardens, the St. Louis Zoo, and other St. Louis institutions offer a variety of research opportunities to undergraduate students that allow students to study and conserve biodiversity, regionally and around the world. The Living Earth Collaborative Summer Undergraduate Research Award (LEC SURA) Program provides financial support to WashU undergraduates to pursue full-time biodiversity research during the summer.

Participants gain a sophisticated and practical knowledge of the research enterprise. They experience the process of research as a creative intellectual activity and gain a more realistic view of the opportunities and demands of a professional research career.

Program Highlights

• Student recipients receive an award of $5000.
• The LEC SURA program supports WashU students working with a LEC Research Mentor or Post-doc who agrees to actively engage in conducting the research project.
• Students build professional relationships within the research group and the broader research community.
• Work is carried out over 360 hours (~9-10 weeks full-time) between May and August.
• Students give an oral or poster presentation at the Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium patterned after a professional conference.
• Awardees also engage in programming intended to enrich their experiential learning, including attending a required research ethics workshop, giving a lightning talk on their project, and submitting mid- and end-of-award reports.

Eligibility

• Open to all continuing WashU undergraduate students
• Recipients must be able to conduct research for a minimum of 360 hours (~9-10 weeks full-time) between May and August.
• Students must be conducting research related to biodiversity, its study and conservation, regionally and/or around the world.
• Applicants must be nominated by their research mentor, who must be a  LEC Research Mentor or current Post-doc. If a student is working with a Biodiversity Fellow who is not a WashU Faculty member, a WashU Faculty member must co-nominate and co-mentor the student.
• Priority is given to students pursuing their first LEC SURA. Past recipients may seek funding for an second summer research project but are strongly encouraged to develop alternative summer plans, because funding limitations may prevent the OUR from granting second awards.

Award Expectations

1. Students who receive a LEC SURA must actively participate in the summer community of WashU undergraduate researchers, including attending a required research ethics workshop, giving a lightning talk on their project, and submitting mid- and end-of-award reports.
2. Awardees must present their work at the Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium in the semester following receipt of the award.
3. To faciliate an immersive research experience, students receiving awards for a summer research project should not engage in more than 3 credits of coursework or in additional full-time employment during the project period.
4. For research activities involving human subjects, nominees must seek and receive approval (or exemption) from the University’s Human Research Protection Office.
5. All awards are considered taxable income by federal, state, and local government. Domestic students should declare their awards when filing annual taxes; the WashU Tax Department will mail a document listing the taxable award amount in late January. For international students, the tax burden can be substantial (up to 30%), and taxes are automatically withdrawn by the WashU Tax Department upfront.

Application Opens Soon!

Contact livingearth@wustl.edu for more information.