For AY 2020-21, a student could potentially qualify for a Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award (CURA) through one of two funding sources:

• The Federal-Work Study (FWS) Program
• The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER)

To receive funding from either source, a student must have demonstrated financial need.

Faculty interested in sponsoring an undergraduate student as a student research assistant through the CURA program are asked to complete the following (four-question) form:

• Using the information provided, the Office of Undergraduate Research will coordinate with the Office of Financial Aid to determine if the student is eligible for FWS or GEER funding.
• The Office of Undergraduate Research will then contact the faculty member by email to share whether or not the student qualifies for funding support for the CURA program.
  • If the student qualifies, a link to an online CURA application will be included in the correspondence to the faculty member.

• For students who receive Federal Work-Study (FWS) funding to support their CURA, the student must have accepted the FWS award as part of their current financial aid award from UIC before a CURA can be granted. A student can accept their FWS award through the my.UIC portal by navigating to the Finances tab.
• Faculty and other principal investigators identify students as prospective research assistants independently or respond to student inquiries through the Undergraduate Research Experience database, conduct their own screening processes, and complete the online application on the students’ behalf, through the link at the top of this page.
• Students are employed at an hourly rate for a number of hours a week to be determined by the faculty member and his/her department in consultation with The Office of Student Employment. Hourly rates range from around $12.20 to $12.80. View the most recent student employment wage plan.
• In most cases, students must be signed up for research credit to be eligible for the award. See the complete list of research credit courses.
• Applications will be accepted and awards will be granted on a rolling basis until the program is full. But faculty should try to get all applications in early to ensure that students have time to register for credit (before the tenth day of the semester). Applications submitted after the tenth day of the semester will still be considered if award funding remains–even if students are unable to sign up for credit.

1. Faculty who wish to participate must create a brief profile on the URE Web site.
2. Students may contact faculty members directly via the “URE Email Webform” link that appears at the bottom of the faculty member’s research information page. Faculty may also recruit students through other means.
3. Faculty correspond directly with the students and determine whom they’d like to hire under the program.
4. Faculty submit the brief application through the link at the top of this page. (Applications will be accepted and awards will be granted on a rolling basis, until all slots are filled or UIC’s Federal Work-Study funds have been depleted for the current academic year.)
5. The application is reviewed by the Office of Undergraduate Research.
6. Students and faculty will be notified via email about the results of the review.
7. To help facilitate clear communication and transparent evaluation processes, we recommend that faculty and students set up a research experience plan with the help of this template.
8. If granted a CURA, students will be hired by the faculty member’s department/research unit through processes communicated to departmental business managers by the Office of Undergraduate Research.
9. The Office of Undergraduate Research will reimburse the sponsoring unit for the portion of Federal Work-Study funds not reimbursed by the federal government. The transfer will take place at the end of the fiscal year. The unit’s business manager will be sent a fillable spreadsheet and will be asked to provide the amount to be reimbursed along with the CFOAP of the account to be reimbursed.
10. All required trainings and timesheet submissions will be administered through the employing department and UIC Student Employment.
11. Departments are reimbursed for the portion covered by the O.U.R. before the end of the fiscal year upon completing the expenditure total verification process.

If you have any questions or comments please email: our@uic.edu