Funding Opportunities
The opportunities below can help you to fund your research. If you have any questions, email our@ucf.edu.
OUR Student Research Grants will not be offered for Summer 2024 (i.e., there will be no application for funding in the Spring 2024 semester).
The Office of Undergraduate Research provides funding to undergraduate researchers to support their research and creative projects.
- On-Campus or Remote Research Costs: Funding for materials, equipment, etc.
- Off-Campus Research Costs: Funding for travel to conduct research. Examples include mileage, plane tickets, hotel stays, or passes to enter certain archives or sites.
Note: Students looking for funding to support travel to present at a conference should apply for our Conference Presentation Travel Award. OUR Research Grants do NOT cover any part of conference travel.
Applications are due on the last Friday of March, June, and October for funding the next semester. Once applications are submitted, faculty mentors will have an additional week to submit their endorsement of the proposal.
This fellowship is an academic scholarship to support students staying in Orlando to take classes and devote time to their academic research. To receive the funds, students must be taking classes in Summer C or A.
SURF Fellows
For students who have not yet had an independent research experience and presented their own work at the Student Scholar Symposium or those who have presented work, but are still involved with their first independent research project. This track will work on developing a poster presentation by the end of the summer on the work completed.
Publishing Fellows
For students who are done with their research or creative project and are prepared to write up their results in the form of a manuscript. This track is supported by the editors of The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal, who guide Fellows through preparing a manuscript to publish in an academic journal.
Learn more here. Application can be found here: https://ucf.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1925206
L.E.A.R.N. First-Year Program
L.E.A.R.N. is a program run out of the Office of Undergraduate Research that invites science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students to become a part of a supportive learning community. F-L.E.A.R.N. is for students entering UCF from high school. T-L.E.A.R.N. is for students entering UCF from a state/community college. Learn more about this program from the LEARN website.
McNair Scholars Program
The McNair Scholars Program is designed to prepare students from low-income, first-generation and traditionally underrepresented groups for doctoral studies. McNair Scholars participate in courses, seminars and workshops on topics related to graduate school preparation, complete a paid research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor, and have the opportunity to present their research at local, regional and national conferences. Learn more about this program from the Academic Advancement Programs office.
Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP)
RAMP is designed to provide undergraduate students, who may be interested in pursuing graduate education, with research experience while working closely with a faculty mentor. In addition, the students participate in a variety of workshops designed to increase their awareness and knowledge of graduate school education. The aim of this program is to encourage more students from those populations who are traditionally underrepresented in graduate education to attend graduate school. Learn more about this program from the Academic Advancement Programs office.
Florida Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP)
FGLSAMP is a National Science Foundation project that provides scholarships to under-represented undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors. It is a coalition of twelve institutions in Florida and one in Georgia. Learn more about this program from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering (NACME)
Since 1974, NACME has provided leadership and support to increase the representation of African American, American Indian, and Latino women and men in engineering. Learn more about this program from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
The Office of Undergraduate Research promotes using two different work study programs, the Federal Work Study (FWS) and the Florida Work Experience Program (FWEP), to fund research assistants’ wages. FWS is a federally funded program that provides college students, who qualify for this financial-need based program, a chance to learn useful skills that can be applied to their future employment and earn money while pursuing their degree.
The Florida Work Experience Program (FWEP) is a state-funded program (for Florida residents only) designed to support students with financial need in gaining work experience relevant to their field of study through an internship experience; research internships can be a great fit for this program.
For students who qualify for this financial assistance option, this is an opportunity to earn a hourly wage for research and creative scholarship endeavors. If you have a faculty mentor and you’re already working together on a research or creative project, learn how to apply for FWS/FWEP here.
Goldwater Scholarships
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This scholarship requires institutional endorsement/nomination: contact the Office of Prestigious Awards (opa@ucf.edu)
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Internal Deadline: First Friday of January
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Website: https://goldwater.scholarsapply.org/
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The Goldwater Scholarship aims to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Authorized by Congress in 1986, this scholarships program seeks to ensure a national talent pool of highly qualified scientists. Competition is open to sophomores and juniors who are U.S. Citizens and intend to pursue careers in mathematics, sciences or various engineering fields (pre-professional students are not eligible). Awards of up to $7,500 per year are given for one or two years of undergraduate study. Approximately 320 scholarships are offered annually.
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The Astronaut Scholarship
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This scholarship requires institutional endorsement/nomination: contact the Office of Prestigious Awards (opa@ucf.edu)
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Internal Deadline: Contact OPA (opa@ucf.edu) for application instructions
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Website: http://astronautscholarship.org/scholars/scholarship-program-details/
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The Astronaut Scholarship supports some of the very best science and engineering college students in the US. These scholarships give up to $15,000 of support for students’ junior and/or senior year. Astronaut Scholarships are awarded to students who already have considerable lab or research experience and are in their second (sophomore) year. Approximately 60 scholarships are awarded annually. Students do not apply directly for this award, but must be nominated by faculty members.
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Requirements: Scholarship nominees must be engineering or natural or applied science (e.g. astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, computer science) or mathematics students with intentions to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degrees. It is not necessary to pursue space research to receive this scholarship. Students intending to pursue a practice in professional medicine are not eligible for the scholarship. However, those intending to perform biomedical research are eligible. Scholarship candidates must be nominated by faculty members. Students may not directly apply for the award. Scholarship nominees must be U.S. citizens. At the time of nomination, scholarship candidates must be a sophomore or junior, have excellent grades, and have conducted a considerable amount of lab and research work in their field. Scholarship nominees are those students who have shown initiative, creativity, and excellence in their chosen field. Special consideration is not given to aeronautical/astronautical engineering students or those intending to pursue careers as astronauts.
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NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs)
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Deadline: Varies by program, but usually in the spring
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Website: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/
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The National Science Foundation funds a large number of research opportunities for undergraduate students through its Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program each summer. Over the summer students travel to a university or other research institution to conduct research with a specific lab or group of faculty. Each REU Site consists of a group of ten or so undergraduates who work in the research programs of the host institution (such as a university). Each student is associated with a specific research project, where he/she works closely with the faculty and other researchers. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel.
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Are you a student from another institution who is thinking of applying to a UCF REU? Please see https://academicsuccess.ucf.edu/reu/
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Requirements: Undergraduate students supported with NSF funds must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. An REU Site may be at either a US or foreign location. Students must contact the individual sites for information and application materials. Some sites also require students have taken certain courses before applying. You can find REU sites by subject here: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp
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DAAD German Academic Exchange Research Internships in Science and Engineering (DAAD RISE)
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Deadline: mid-December
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Website: https://www.daad.org/en/
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RISE is a summer internship program for undergraduate students from the United States, Canada, and the UK in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, engineering, and computer science. It offers unique opportunities for undergraduate students to work with research groups at universities and top research institutions across Germany for a period of 2 to 3 months during the summer. RISE interns are matched with doctoral students whom they assist and who serve as their mentors. The working language will be English. All scholarship holders receive stipends from the DAAD to help cover living expenses. For more information, see https://www.daad.de/rise/en/