Layered-Learning Program for Undergraduate (UG) Researchers

About this opportunity

Campus:

University-wide

Contact:

ord@iu.edu

Deadline:

March 1, 2027

Award cycle:

FY2026-27

Funding available:

$65,000 maximum award amount per PI applicant

The Layered-Learning Program for Undergraduate Researchers is designed to support collaboration between undergraduate students and faculty, research staff, postdocs and/or graduate students. The program’s main objectives are three-fold including:

  1. Providing undergraduate students with the opportunity to have a high impact, high value undergraduate research experience utilizing a cohort model.
  2. Providing faculty with the opportunity to expand their research program, pursue new opportunities, and to potentially increase research outcomes (new grants, papers, etc.).
  3. Serving as a scalable way to offer more undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue research experiences.

The intent of this program is to provide a tiered layered-learning model for undergraduate research. This program supports any type of research or creative activities including wet or dry laboratory work, field work, community-engaged research, studio creative work, etc.

Tier 1 is comprised of lead faculty PI (either 1, or a team up to three faculty co-PIs), who will be a tenured/tenure eligible faculty and/or research center/institute director responsible for the program's design and execution. 

 

Tier 2 will include additional faculty, research staff, postdocs and/or graduate students who will serve as additional layered mentors. 

 

Tier 3 will be undergraduate students who learn together in cohorts of 3-10 students to be provided hands-on research or creative experiences, including wet or dry laboratory work, field work, community-engaged research, studio creative work.  The students may perform basic, applied, or developmental research or creative work with the intent to create, innovate, problem-solve and disseminate and/or exhibit.  Students may be recruited and divided into smaller teams to suit individual research or creative activity projects, but there should be community building activities for the entire cohort. However, all groups should be comprised of at least 3 students.

 

Successful proposals will outline plans to engage students from a wide array of disciplines to enhance learning and workforce readiness for students, as well as support research productivity. Awards will be conferred in early Spring to ensure recipients can recruit students and award undergraduate fellowships in time for the start of the semester. 



Eligibility

  • All tenured and tenure eligible faculty, as well as research center or institute directors on all campuses may serve as Tier 1 applicants.
  • All proposals are highly encouraged, but not required, to be submitted in collaboration with one or more centrally administered Center, Institute, Museum, or Service Center or Facility (CIMS).
  • Preference will be given to proposals that have a solid research and training plan and intend to recruit students from a cross-section of disciplines as declared majors.

Funding & Proposal Requirements

  • Project duration should be up to 9-12 months (fall and spring semesters).
  • Grant requests may not exceed $65,000.
  • Each award will provide up to $25,000 to support Tier 2 research and creative work and/or compensate associated research staff, postdocs and/or graduate students acting as mentors, as well as $4,000 fellowships ($2,000 per semester per student) for up to 10 undergraduate Tier 3 participants per cohort.
  • Undergraduates are expected to devote at least 8-10 hours per week supporting the research project and must have schedules that allow them to attend training, research, and cohort-building activities.
  • Funds cannot be used for course release, PI faculty salary, or supplements.

Post Award Requirements

  • Acknowledge receipt of IU Research support in any presentation or publication of work.
  • Submit progress reports as follows: end of year Project Status and No-Cost Extension request, a Final Report within 30 days of project completion, and Return on Investment report(s) as requested. System-generated emails with online reporting instructions will be sent to you prior to each progress report due date.
  • Progress report data requested will include: external submissions, external awards, type of student worker, publications, presentations, media contacts, disclosures and patents.
  • Unused funds will be returned to IU Research.
  • Requests for up to a six-month no cost extension must be approved by the Office for Research Development.