First Year Research Experience (FYRE) Award

Number of Awards: 12

Funding Amount: $5,000  (and faculty mentor receives $1,000) 

Eligibility Criteria
CURE supports all students. Applicants are eligible to apply regardless of their immigration and FAFSA eligibility status.

  • Full-time enrollment as a first-year undergraduate student at UO in a degree-granting program, and in good academic standing; OR a transfer student who is in their first year at UO
    • Enrollment during the term in which the funds are being requested
      • Students currently not enrolled full-time at the time of application may be considered on a case-by-case basis
    • Do not need to be enrolled during the summer
  • UO faculty member who has agreed to serve as the mentor for the research/creative work
    • The faculty mentor must have an appointment as a tenure-related or career faculty of .50FTE or above
    • If research/creative work will be performed at another institution the UO faculty mentor will remain the primary supervisor/mentor
  • The applicant may not receive funds to conduct the same research supported through other internal UO research funding programs, during the same fellowship time period
    • Funds are intended to directly support the recipient (i.e. living costs) and not expenses associated with the research project
  • The award will be provided only once during the student's academic career at the University of Oregon
  • The funds must be used during Summer 2023

Resources and Support
As part of the effort to build your research community, CURE will offer a range of workshops (2 or 3) throughout summer designed to strengthen academic and professional portfolio

  • resume building, maximizing use of LinkedIN, reinforce faculty ties, exploring distinguished scholarships, continued research experience development, are a few examples of discussion topics

Award recipients are also welcome to meet individually with a CURE team member for any advising and guidance needed.

FYRE Commitments and Responsibilities
Fellows are expected to:                                      

  • Commit full-time (30-40 hours weekly) on their research or creative work for a minimum of eight weeks during summer;
  • Participate in a brief pre-summer welcome orientation meeting
  • Award recipient will present the highlights of their research in an end-of-summer virtual symposium (a succinct 10-to12 minute presentation outlining the key points of their project)
  • Submit a post-fellowship reflection and assessment survey within one month of the conclusion of the fellowship that includes a one page reflection statement;
  • Present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium the spring term following their summer research/creative work;
  • Apprise CURE of any publications, conference presentations, or public performance/exhibits that are associated with the research/creative work;
  • Acknowledge CURE and the Division of Undergraduate Education and Student Success in all work resulting from research and creative work during the fellowship;
  • Adhere to the highest ethical standards of proposing and conducting research, as outlined by UO's Office of Research Compliance Services, to meet university, state and federal compliance standards.

Research Project Types

  • Independent, student-led projects under the mentorship of a UO faculty member.
  • Faculty-led projects where the undergraduate student contributes to the project developed by a UO faculty member.

Application and Recommendation Letter Deadline: April 26, 2023

  • Click here to preview the application form, and here to preview an example of the set-up for the upload document.
  • A single faculty recommendation letter will be required with the application. Forward this link to the faculty mentor.
  • The FYRE application form can be accessed here.