Two students presenting a research poster

Morgan and Gillian Coleman, Spring 2023 and Fall 2023/Spring 2024 Project Grant recipients

Project Grants:

Funding for undergraduate student research or creative projects

The purpose of these grants is to provide students a learning opportunity through participation in faculty-mentored projects. Students from any major are welcome to apply! With an LSU Discover Undergraduate Research Project Grant, currently enrolled, full-time LSU undergraduate students can receive funding for hourly wages, supplies, and travel related to a research or creative project. Students must have an LSU employed faculty member serve as their supervisor and sign their time-sheets.

Name	Major	Department in which research is conducted	Mentor	Research
Caroline Henry	Biological Sciences	Biological Sciences	Dr. Christine Lattin	Differences in the Cloacal Microbiomes of Native Green and Invasive Brown Anoles and Impacts of Captivity
Shea Lee	Biological Engineering	Biological and Agricultural Engineering	Dr. Yongchan Kwon	Production and Deimination of Filaggrin Using the Cell-Free System
Henri Noel	Biochemistry	Communication Sciences & Disorders	Dr. Karim Johari	The Role of Right Frontal Aslant Tract in Speech Production: An HD-tACS-EEG Study
Kelsey Robillard	Biochemistry	Chemistry	Dr. Victor Garcia-Lopez	Synthesis and Fluorescence Characterization of a Photoswitchable Molecular Probe for Visualization and Measurement of Bacterial Membrane Potential
Skylar Vollmer	Architecture	Architecture	Dr. Farzaneh Oghazian	ArchiCrochet; an Exploration on Bridging the Gap Between Architecture and Crocheting
Nicholas Wagner	Biological and Agricultural Engineering	Plant, Environmental & Soil Sciences	Dr. Michael Hayes	Developing the Framework for Agricultural Energy Optimization at Crawfish Farms using Water Quality Sensing
Crysania “Rei” Zimmerman	English	English	Dr. Benjamin Kahan	Flowers and Femininity: Women, Sex, and Sexuality in the Botanical Sciences

Funding Cycles

Undergraduate students can apply for Project Grant funding for the academic year (fall and spring semesters) or the summer.

Applications for 2024 - 2025 funding were due by Sunday, July 7^th at 11:59 p.m.
Funding period: August 26th, 2024 - May 10, 2025
Funding Limit: $3,000

Applications for Summer 2025 funding are due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 16^th
Decisions will be announced by March 26^th
Mandatory orientation for Summer 2025 funding recipients will be held on Friday, May 23rd
Funding period: May 26 - August 15, 2025
Funding limit: $6,000

Dates coming soon!

LSU Discover Project Grant recipients with remaining funding that they wish to use beyond their original funding period can submit a No-Cost Extension Request Form.
Requirements to request at No-Cost Extension. All are due one week before the end of the original funding period.
- Complete the No-Cost Extension Request Form.
- Ask your original faculty mentor to email a note of support for your submission request to lsudiscover@lsu.edu

How to apply:

Must be enrolled as a full-time LSU undergraduate for the entire academic year if applying for spring/fall funding
Must be enrolled as a full-time LSU undergraduate in the following fall semester if applying for summer funding
Must have an LSU faculty mentor (an alternate LSU full-time employed staff member may serve as the day-to-day supervisor)
Must have a minimum 2.5 GPA
Must be in good standing with the university
Must have completed at least 24 credits of college coursework at the time the application is submitted

Students can receive a maximum of $3,000 for the academic year (fall and spring) or $6,000 for the summer semester.
Students cannot receive more than one Project Grant
We cannot fund student projects that are part of a course or are for course credit (e.g., Thesis, Independent Study, Special Problems, etc.)
Students cannot earn wages from both LSU Discover and another funding source for the same hours worked on a project
Limited to one student per faculty mentor per semester, unless the students apply as a group
Student may not work more than 20 hours per week combined with other student worker jobs during the fall and spring semesters; students working in the summer may work up to 40 hours a week as long as they are not enrolled in any summer courses.
Summer funding is divided between two periods: $3,000 is available up until June 30th, and an additional $3,000 is available for the remainder of the summer semester.
For students requesting funding for supplies: please be aware that some restrictions may apply depending on the type of supplies requested
Funding expires the last day of classes of the funded semester

Groups of up to 3 students who each meet the eligibility requirements can apply to split one research grant.
Groups should submit one application using the Group Application Form.
If a group is funded, each student must complete all of the Recipient Responsibilities outlined below by the due dates.
The group must have only one supervisor (an LSU employed faculty or staff member) who is responsible for submitting each student’s bi-weekly time sheets.
The faculty mentor should submit a separate recommendation form for each student in the group.
The faculty mentor must fill out the assessment form for each student in the group.

Project Grant Application - Individuals

Project Grant Application - Groups

Application Components:

Proposal
Personal Statement - 2 pages maximum
Budget Template
- Academic Year
- Summer
College Record
Faculty Mentor Recommendation Form
- Please email this form to your mentor

There are no specific instructions for the personal statement so you are free to concentrate on any aspect of your life that you feel is relevant. This is your opportunity to share anything about yourself with the judges that might convince them that you are an excellent candidate for the funding. For example, you could discuss how this project contributes to your future goals (graduate school or workforce). You may want to explain how your previous educational and research experiences have prepared you for this project. Or you may want to explain any financial hardships that could be alleviated by the grant. You could even discuss all of these things. There’s no “right way” to write the personal essay for this grant. The personal statement is not scored but gives the judges a better sense of who you are as a student researcher beyond your project proposal and transcript.

You must attach a project proposal to your online application. Your entire proposal must be reviewed and approved by your faculty mentor before submitting your application.

Proposal Style:

Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, full name on right corner header of each page, and double-spaced. Can be uploaded as a Word Doc or PDF.

Title
Student full name
Student major
Semester in which research will be conducted
Name, title, and department of faculty mentor(s)

Provide a description of the project using the following outline. Remember to write your proposal so that even a non-specialist can understand the purpose of your research.

Introduction:

This section should provide the justification for the proposed project. You should explain how your research contributes to the broader context of your discipline.

Goals, Objectives, Hypothesis or Study Question:

This section should discuss what you plan to accomplish.

Methods:

Describe how you plan to collect and analyze your data.

Budget Justification and Resources:

In this section, you must explain your budget requests (hourly wages, supplies, etc.). Also, you should explain what, if any, supplies, software, equipment, lab space, or other resources will be provided by other funding sources (such as your mentor or with other funding).

Broader Impacts:

Briefly discuss the impact or benefit of your project on your discipline AND the impact or benefit of your project on society

You must include citations to support your project narrative. Use whichever citation style is expected in your discipline.

All projects which involve human subjects must be submitted to the LSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval or exemption. This includes projects in which humans will be experimented on, interviewed, surveyed, etc. In no case may a project with human subjects begin before written exemption or written IRB approval is received. Faculty mentors will need to submit the forms on behalf of their student mentee(s).

When submitting your application for the LSU Discover Project Grant, include your approval or exemption letter from IRB. If you are still awaiting a decision from IRB, you may include a copy of the email which confirms that the forms have been submitted.

Provide a budget summary spreadsheet using the appropriate budget template

Your proposal will be scored using this scoring rubric: Project Grant Scoring Rubric

Your proposal will also be scored on the quality of the writing so we recommend that you make an appointment with CxC to review your proposal before submitting. Schedule an appointment with CxC.

Review and approval process:

Application is reviewed by an LSU Discover staff member for completeness.
Completed applications are sent to LSU faculty judges for review. Each proposal is reviewed by 2-3 faculty members, at least one with expertise in the student’s discipline and one from our Faculty Advisory Board. Judges will remain anonymous.
Each faculty judge uses the Project Grant Scoring Rubric to evaluate the student application.
Around 4-6 weeks after the application deadline, all student applicants will be notified.
Students whose applications have been accepted must reply to our emails in a timely fashion.

Recipient Responsibilities

Funded students must complete all of the below requirements:

Orientation date depends on funding cycle. Please see "Funding Cycles" at the top of this webpage.

Due: Before first day of work

Download a copy of the bi-weekly timesheet

View the student payroll schedule

Bi-weekly time sheets must be submitted by the student’s research supervisor every other week by Friday at midnight. Students and their supervisors will get warnings for the first two late submissions; the 3rd late time sheet submission will result in the grant being revoked.

Access the training

Due: One week after orientation

Visit the LSU IRB page

Due: Before first day of work

Access the trainings

Due: One week after orientation

Power-Based Violence Prevention & Response Training
Ethics Training
Content Accessibility Awareness

Please email a photo of yourself in your research setting to lsudiscover@lsu.edu

Due: One week after orientation

Access the LSU Discover workshops schedule or pre-recorded videos

Submit notes through the DURP Moodle

For Academic Year funding:

Personal Statements or one of the NSF GRFP workshops
CV writing
Abstract writing

Notes due: Within 4 weeks of orientation

For Summer funding:

Attend all (10) weekly workshops held during the summer

Notes due: By the Friday of each week in which the workshop is held

Must attend one appointment with the Director of Fellowships and Advising.

Schedule an appointment

Due: Meeting must be scheduled and attended within 4 weeks of orientation

Visit the event website

All recipients are required to present their research at the annual Discover Day undergraduate research symposium held at the end of the spring semester. Students must complete the online application to participate. Student who will graduate before the next Discover Day should contact the LSU Discover office for an alternate activity.

Complete the Project Grant Recipient Final Report Form

Due: The last day of the funding period

For faculty with a funded student:

Mentor must complete Research Skills Assessment Form before the student’s first day of work on the project
Mentor must attend the orientation or send a proxy
Mentor must read and sign the LSU Discover Undergraduate Research Grant FACULTY Agreement Form before the student’s first day of work
Mentor must sign and submit bi-weekly time sheets to the the Business Manager
- Bi-weekly time sheets must be submitted by the student’s research supervisor every other week by Friday at midnight. Students and their supervisors will get warnings for the first two late submissions; the 3rd late time sheet submission will result in the grant being revoked.