Jump to important dates and proposal submission.
Purpose of the award
The award is designed to provide research and creative activity experiences to students who are first-generation and/or have been historically underrepresented in undergraduate research. In doing so, the program seeks to enhance the academic experience, educational outcomes, and future educational pursuits of students of all identities.
Program background
According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (2017) there are gaps in undergraduate research participation for students of diverse racial and socioeconomic identities.
- Nationwide, students who identify as low-income or American Indian/Alaska Native, Black or African American, LatinX, and Asian Pacific Islander report participating in research with faculty at lower rates compared to other students.
- Only 18% of first-generation students reported being involved in research with a faculty member.
- Only 4.5% of all first-year students report intentions to get involved with undergraduate research during their first year.
The program seeks to address these inequities by encouraging participation in undergraduate research for students holding these diverse identities.
More importantly, undergraduate research has been identified as a High Impact Practice for students, which can have an impact on student success.
A pipeline of students engaged with research during their first year prepares them for future opportunities including Undergraduate Research awards, McNair Scholars and graduate school.
Lastly, developing strong academic and social connections during the first years of college is critical for long-term student success, which is why the program focuses on first- and second-year students.
Research projects
Students will work on projects designed by the University of Nevada, Reno faculty mentors.
Projects should be scoped to be appropriate for freshmen and sophomores with limited prior research experience. Projects are welcome in all fields – Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and STEM – with particular emphasis on the need to provide more STEM research opportunities to those typically underrepresented within these fields. Listing of suggested minimum skills or areas of academic interest is advisable to attract suitable candidates.
Successful candidates will work for a maximum of 150 hours in a semester on the project and produce a poster or other suitable presentation to be given at the Wolf Pack Discoveries symposium.
Solicitation and application
The projects will be advertised by Undergraduate Research to students, who will then complete an application. All applicants for a specific project will be reviewed by the mentors and the candidates will be ranked. Final selection of candidates will be made by Undergraduate Research in consultation with the mentors.
Awards
A maximum award of $2,250, provided by the University, will go to the student in the form of salary as a student worker. Projects can vary by the number of hours worked per week, with a maximum of approximately 10 hours per week over a 15-week semester. Students will be paid biweekly for hours worked during the award cycle. Projects with fewer than 10 hours per week will have a total value less than $2,250.
Mentor expectations
- Ensure that your student awardee is aware of and completes all required lab training.
- Ensure that your student awardee acquires written approval from the appropriate review board(s) and provides approved documentation to Undergraduate Research.
- Provide primary research supervision, mentorship and professional development of your student awardee.
Timeline
For projects being conducted from August 1 - December 31:
- Proposals must be submitted by faculty mentors by mid-January (this date corresponds to the date the application is available to students)
- Students will apply in April
- After application period, mentors will have time to review student applications, set up interviews (optional), and decide on their top picks
- Student-mentor matches will then be determined, and decisions will be disseminated to students and agencies in May
For projects being conducted from January 1 - May 31:
- Proposals must be submitted by faculty mentors by end of August (this date corresponds to the date the application is available to students)
- Students will apply in November
- After application period, mentors will have time to review student applications, set up interviews (optional), and decide on their top picks
- Student-mentor matches will then be determined, and decisions will be disseminated to students and agencies in December
Participating mentors and projects for spring 2027
Applications due TBD. Subscribe to our email list for announcements when the next application cycle is open!
Due to budget constraints, not all projects proposed for funding will necessarily be funded. Funding decisions will be based on available funds, number of applicants and number of projects funded per mentor.
PREP projects for spring 2027
- Davide Baldan: Assessing reproductive responses of wildlife to climate change using AI-assisted analyses
- Christopher Barile: Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide emissions to fuels and other useful products
- Marian Berryhill: Effects of Al use on executive function
- Kristin Bivens: Understanding student attitudes, concerns, and perspectives concerning generative artificial intelligence at the University of Nevada, Reno
- Won-Gyu Choi: Need for a space-adapted tomato: Engineering a new space tomato and improvement
- Mandi Collins: Rooted in rural Nevada: Understanding STEM teacher success through educator narratives
- Ran Duan: Visual design in wildfire smoke communication: Promoting message effectiveness and informed decision-making
- Dave Feil-Seifer: Designing expressive robots for speech-language therapy
- Steven Frese: Hidden order in human microbiomes: Applying data science to early life microbiomes
- Emily Hobson: Analyzing the AIDS Quilt in prisons
- Melody Huslage: Exploration of sugar dating on college campuses
- Jennifer Lanterman: A scoping review of restorative justice training requirements and program evaluations
- Anne Leonard: What are the impacts of microplastics on bee health and behavior?
- Ben Ma: Biofilm control in water reuse system using emerging UV technologies
- Mahdi Mehrtash: Using renewable energy to reduce pollution in mining
- Saeedeh Naziri: Evaluating enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) as a bio-inspired approach for sustainable waste containment barriers
- Mike Starrett Ambrose: Cognitive and neural mechanisms for flexible spatial representations across the lifespan
- Erin Stiles: Islam, inheritance, and legal pluralism in Cape Town, South Africa
Project submission
The list of PREP projects is updated as mentor projects become available. Once the application is available to students, no new projects will be added for that semester's solicitation. Submit a project proposal to get involved as a PREP mentor.
Questions
Please email undergradresearch@unr.edu with questions.