Engaged Learning

Distinguish Yourself

Chancellor's Research Fellowship

Chancellor Research Fellowship 2022-2023
Senior Chancellor Research Fellowship
CRF image
Alexandra Vacaru
chancellor
chancellor and crfs at graduation
21-22 crfs
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19-20 crfs
crf end of year
end of year crf event
chancellors research fellows
crfs and faculty
crf student with mentor and chancellor
crf dinner with chancellor
crfs in ucr

The Chancellor's Research Fellowship (CRF) is a competitive award that supports undergraduate Engaged Learning in faculty-mentored research and creative activity projects. This award is open to students in all disciplines.

Inaugurated in 2012, the UCR Chancellor's Research Fellowship awards fourteen undergraduate students up to $5,750. This fellowship provides an enhanced learning context for the selected undergraduate researchers, including the opportunity to interact with the UCR Chancellor, other key UCR officials, and with distinguished guest speakers. Additionally, the Office of Engaged Learning provides mentorship and guidance throughout the year.

If you have attended the mandatory CRF Application Workshop and would like to schedule a meeting with a CRF to ask follow-up questions please fill out our MEETING FORM

Apply Here

The CRF Application is closed, please check back at the end of February.

Application Deadline

April 10, 2023

Questions?
ugr@ucr.edu

Meet the 2022-2023 CRFs
Eligibility
Award Information
  • Introduction

    The Chancellor’s Research Fellowship (CRF) is designed to support faculty mentored research, scholarly and creative activities among UCR's undergraduate student population. The Fellowship is open to students in all majors, and applications must be prepared by the student with guidance from his or her faculty mentor.

  • Awards and Benefits

    The Chancellor’s Research Fellowship provides a maximum award of $5,750. The award will be disbursed as follows:

    • $5,000 for a summer research stipend award
    • Remaining $750 will be disbursed to the faculty member's home department to be used for the following expenses during the academic year in the following priority order:
      • Travel to present research outcomes at a national discipline specific conference
      • Research related travel
      • Materials & Supplies
      • Other

    Fourteen applicants will be recognized as a Chancellor’s Research Fellow, and will be part of an elite group of UCR undergraduate students that will meet monthly throughout the academic year. This fellowship provides an enhanced learning context for the selected undergraduate researchers, including the opportunity to interact with the UCR Chancellor, other key UCR officials, and with distinguished visiting guest speakers. Fellows are expected to attend and participate in special campus events.

    Per the UC Patent Policy, an agreement to assign inventions and patents to the University shall be mandatory for persons not employed by the University but who use University research facilities, and for those who receive gift, grant, or contract funds through the University. If the proposed CRF project utilizes a UCR faculty mentor’s research (including UCR intellectual property and/or proprietary information), facilities, and equipment, that a similar undergraduate student would not have access to, if not for the CRF award, the student recipient of the CRF award may be required to sign the UC Patent Acknowledgement.

  • What to Expect as a Chancellor Research Fellow

    Chancellor Research Fellows are expected to complete a research project or creative activity by June 30th within the academic year of the fellowship; present at UC Riverside’s Annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (Usually scheduled in the spring quarter); participate in monthly meetings, special events, recruitment activities; and provide a quarterly interim report that describes the project progress and reflection on learning experiences.

    Leadership Development

    Lessons Learned by CRF Alumni

    Earning Letters of Recommendation

  • Application Eligibility

    The application criteria for the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship are as follows:

    • CRF applicant must be a full-time UCR undergraduate student who will have a Junior or Senior standing during Academic Year selected for the fellowship
    • Minimum GPA of 3.0
    • Applicants must attend an Application Workshop. Workshops will be offered throughout Winter quarter. RSVP is required as space is limited.
Application Requirements
  • Online Application Process

    CRF applications will be accepted only via online application process. The application must be written by the student with guidance from his or her faculty mentor. Please note that the online application cannot be saved, thus students should plan to allocate time to complete the application once they have all of the required elements.

  • Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation

    Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation: The letter of recommendation should acknowledge his/her commitment to mentoring the student throughout the proposed project period. Please take note that the faculty mentor will be notified to upload the letter of recommendation only after the student has submitted a complete application. It is highly encouraged that the student coordinate with the faculty mentor to ensure that the letter of recommendation is uploaded before the deadline.

  • Completed Project Due Date

    All research or creative activity projects must be completed by June 30 within the academic year of the fellowship.

  • Project Independence

    Although we expect that in many cases the proposed work will relate to the faculty mentor’s current research, CRF applicants must propose a project that is not already financially supported by another program or funding source. It is expected that CRF applicants propose an independent research or creative activity project. If directly related to the research of the faculty mentor, the CRF applicant will need to describe how he/she will be primarily responsible for the undertaking and reporting of the research.

Proposal must include the following items:

  • Proposal Narrative that outlines the research or creative activity project and includes the following elements
    • Abstract (100-word limit): The abstract should be a brief summary of the proposal's key points written in the first person. It should provide information as to: What is being studied? Why is it important to study? How will it be studied?
    • Introduction/statement of goals (300-word limit): Say what you are doing—be specific. The reviewer(s) should know what you are proposing to do by the end of this section.
      • Creative Project Activity
        • Introduce the context and themes to be addressed or improved by the creative activity.
        • Describe the rationale for or purpose of the activity and its significance.
        • Include a discussion of the relevant context and themes for understanding the creative activity and prior achievements drawn from when designing the specific activity.
      • Research Project
        • Introduce issues, theories, or problem to be addressed or improved by your research.
        • Describe the rationale or purpose of the study/project.
        • Include a discussion of relevant literature and/or research that relates to the project, be sure to include full citations in the references section of the proposal.
    • Research Description (700-word limit) Follow Creative Context if this is to be a creative activity or a design project; Follow Research Methodology if this is to be a research project
      • Creative Context - Describe the methodology for completing your creative activity project. Describe your approach:
        • Identify and describe your approach, theory, literature, or industry practice that informed the process for crafting the creative activity or design project.
        • Describe the process that will be followed to create the project. This description should be written clearly and include essential steps.
        • Describe the end product of the creative work. Explain how a successful project will be determined.
        • Please include references.
      • Research Methodology - Describe the research methodology for your project. The methodology should be structured around a research question(s) or hypothesis. The methodology section must include a research question; provide clear research question(s) or hypothesis.
        • Describe the data sources and/or data collection procedures for the project. This section should be written very clearly and align to common practices for describing research methodology in the field of study.
        • Describe how data will be analyzed. This can range from interpretations of texts to transcribing and coding interviews for common themes to various types of statistical analyses. Be specific and provide clear information.
        • Please include references.
    • Potential Implications (150-word limit): Discuss the potential impact of this project to others in your field.
    • Implementation Timeline: Create a timeline of activities related to this project and how it will be undertaken throughout the year. Please include anticipated start date(s) and completion date(s) for all relevant activities (i.e., preparation, project development, analysis, writing reflection, creating presentation materials). The application will provide a form where you will detail your implementation timeline.  Please refer to the application presentation video that is provided to students who attend the Mandatory CRF Application Workshop for details on this section.  You should summarize your implementation timeline in your proposal to demonstrate your expected progress. 
  • Budget and Budget Justification

    Awards of up to $5,750 will be provided for the academic year of the award, July 1 through June 30. Allowable expenses include $5,000 summer research stipend, and $750 to be disbursed to the faculty member's home department for the following items in priority order: travel to present research outcomes at a national conference; travel to conduct research; materials and supplies; and other expenses required to conduct the research.

    You are encouraged to discuss potential research costs with your proposed faculty mentor and department analyst before submitting your application. Please note that you will need the contact information of the department budget analyst to complete the application. In the budget justification you should provide an explanation, item-by-item, stating how you will spend the money requested and the relevance of the expenses in order to carry out the planned activities.

  • References

    Fully cite all sources referenced in the project proposal. Please use the citation style that is used in your field of study. Examples would include the American Psychological Association (APA) style, 6th edition, the Chicago Manual of Style, Modern Languages Association, or Council of Biology Editors.

  • Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation

    A letter of recommendation written by the faculty mentor is mandatory and will be submitted separately from the proposal. This letter should state that he or she approves the proposed project and will provide mentorship throughout the project. The letter should also address:

    • The strength of the proposed research or creative activity
    • Your (the student/applicant’s) preparedness to undertake the project
    • Confirmation that you will work full-time over the summer to earn the stipend

    Upon submission of the electronic application form, the Faculty Mentor will receive an email with instructions on how to submit the required letter of recommendation and also asked to review your submission. You are encouraged to coordinate with the letter writer to ensure that they are aware of the submission deadline and will be prepared to upload the letter as soon as you complete the application.

Review Process and Criteria
  • Faculty Review Committee

    CRF applications will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary Faculty Review Committee. In addition to standard review criteria such as clarity, quality, and feasibility of the proposal, applications will be reviewed and evaluated on their strong research design or an innovative creative activity project. Other influential factors include a feasible timeline, a well-developed budget, and a letter of recommendation from your faculty mentor.

  • Selected Fellows Expectations

    Selected Fellows will be expected to present their project at UCR’s Annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity, scheduled in the spring quarter. So be sure to include this as one of your proposed activities.

  • CRF Application Grading Breakdown

    CRF Applications will be graded with a maximum score of 100 points. The breakdown is as follows:

    • Abstract – 5 points
    • Introduction – 10 points
    • Description – 30 points
    • Potential Implications – 10 points
    • Implementation Timeline – 10 points
    • Budget – 10 points
    • References – 10 points
    • Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation – 10 points
    • Research Elevator Pitch - 5 points
  • Research Elevator Pitch Tips
Award Notification

Selected Chancellor Research Fellows will be notified via e-mail in May, and will be formally presented to the campus community before the end of the spring quarter.

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