Seed Grants

Any student from any major is eligible to apply as Principal Investigator (PI). Applications from research teams working on the same project are welcome and may be submitted together as co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs). The Undergraduate Research, Innovative, and Creative Activities (URiCA) Program has not established research priorities; therefore, we will consider applications from all disciplines.

The URiCA Program will provide funding for projects that are awarded.

• The total budget request is limited to $1,000.
• A maximum of $1,000 can be requested per project for research supplies, materials, travel expenses, and publication fees.
• All policies of the Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Whitewater regarding spending will be followed, and no exceptions to these rules will be permitted.

Application Deadline: The deadline will be an open call for proposals until all funds for the academic year are allocated, with a final deadline of December 15, 2026.

Notification: The URiCA Program will inform all students and mentors listed in the proposal of its decision within 2 weeks of submission.

Award Period: The expenditure period runs from the notification of receipt of the award through April 30, 2027. The Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Whitewater have set fixed cutoff dates for certain purchases; these dates cannot be changed. Expenditures are only permitted for the proposed project and cannot be used to support other projects or future mentor projects.

Applications must include all of the following components:

• Cover Letter: Include a project title, the student(s) name(s), department(s), major(s), and mentor(s) name(s) and department(s). The rest of the application should omit any names or identifying details to ensure a blind review process.
• Summary: A short paragraph providing an overview of the project and its significance. This paragraph will serve as the cover page for the application narrative, which will be submitted to reviewers.
• Project Narrative: This section must not exceed six pages, are single-spaced, using a 12-point font with one-inch margins.
  • Research Question or Creative Purpose: A brief statement that clearly states the research question, creative purpose, or primary goal of the project.
  • Project Significance:  A description of how this project aligns within the broader discipline-specific field. This may include, but is not limited to, a review of scientific literature, a summary of other creative works in the proposed discipline, etc.
  • Project Methods: A section describing the methods needed to complete the project.
  • Project Goals: A clear outline of specific objectives or steps necessary to address the research question or complete the creative project. Include a tentative schedule showing when these goals are expected to be met.
  • Project Budget (with Justification of expenses): A detailed outline of how funds will be allocated for this project. Each item must include a description of its purpose and explain how the expense supports achieving one of the project's goals.
• Reference List: A collection of sources used to complete the proposal.
• AI Disclosure Statement: Refer to URiCA’s AI Usage Policy below. In this part of the proposal, include the following: 1) the name of the Generative AI system; 2) the strategy used (e.g., editing grammar, translating transcripts from your non-native language to your native language, generating ideas, etc.); 3) prompts used; and 4) a list of sections containing AI-generated content.
• Mentor Letter(s) of Recommendation: All mentors involved in the project must submit a recommendation letter to URiCA for both the project and the student(s) participating. Please emphasize the importance of the project and the students’ ability to complete it on time in the letter.
   

For Students:

• Submit your completed proposal as one Word document or PDF.
• Email it to urica@uww.edu. Use this subject line:  (P.I. Last Name) Seed Grant Application.

For Mentors:

• Submit your completed proposal as one Word document or PDF.
• Email it to urica@uww.edu. Use this subject line:  (P.I. Last Name) Seed Grant Application LOR.

After Submission:

• URiCA staff will review your application within 48 business hours and send you an acknowledgment confirming receipt.
• If any parts are missing, you will be notified and have 48 business hours to respond.
• Applications not submitted within 48 business hours of notification will be rejected.

Subject Review: URiCA will select at least one content expert to evaluate the proposal and rate it based on the following:

• Is the proposed project relevant to the field of study?
• Are the proposed methods for completing the research project sound according to current practices in the field?
• Will the proposed project generate original data, investigate a new question, or conduct secondary research that advances the broader field of study?
• Is the student ready to finish the proposed project by the deadlines outlined in the proposal?

Review by URiCA/ORSP: At least one member of the URiCA/ORSP team will also assess the proposal and assign a rating based on the following:

• The same questions mentioned earlier.
• The application clearly defines the project's deliverables and expected outcomes.
• Do the student(s) and mentor(s) meet the URiCA criteria for the proposed project?

Awarded proposals will be notified by within 2 weeks of all materials being received.

All students and mentors involved in awarded projects must agree to the following before beginning work on the project:

• Attend a Seed Grant Orientation by the URiCA team.
• Finish a Responsible Conduct of Research course.
• If working with human subjects, complete a course in social, behavioral, and educational sciences.
• When working with human subjects, ensure an approved protocol is on file with the Institutional Review Board (IRB).
• If you work in the biomedical field, think about taking a Biomedical Sciences Research course.
• Fill out an obligation form, agree to the Seed grant responsibilities, and submit demographic data for URiCA records.

Grant Period Obligations. Grant personnel will:

• Notify URiCA of any changes to the project's scope or expenses; these must be submitted in writing to URiCA before implementation. URiCA reserves the right to deny any of these requests.
• Inform URiCA in writing if any student registers for research hours (e.g., 498, 498R, 499 courses) to earn credit toward this project.
• Reply quickly to any messages from URiCA, preferably within two business days.
• Complete your end-of-year review of your experience with URiCA.
• Present at UWW’s Spring URiCA Symposium in April.
• If invited, present their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR).
• Present their research at the Universities of Wisconsin’s Research Symposium.
• If invited, present at Research in the Rotunda, Science Alliance meetings, or other events held on campus or across the state. We encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities.
• Notify URiCA of any additional professional presentations, published work, or public displays or showings related to the funded proposal.
• Submit an extended abstract (2,500 to 4,000 words) to URiCA by the end of the Spring semester (i.e., May 15, 2027). These abstracts will be stored on URiCA’s website to archive the projects completed in the program.

The Undergraduate Research, Innovative, and Creative (URiCA) Program at UW-Whitewater recognizes that the field of Artificial Intelligence is evolving quickly. We also understand that students and mentors might have questions about its use when preparing proposals, conducting funded research, and submitting reports to URiCA. The core principle of our policies is that students and mentors are responsible for how they utilize any Generative AI during these activities. Since our program covers multiple disciplines, students and mentors should also adhere to discipline-specific AI usage policies established by professional organizations as standards.

Other considerations students and mentors should reflect on:

1. Understand the relationship between GenAI and Intellectual Property Rights.
2. In most research fields, reproducibility and transparency are essential for ethical research, and GenAI tools should not weaken that standard.
3. Students and mentors should understand the limitations of GenAI and acknowledge that some tools will sometimes produce "hallucinations."
4. When sharing your results, be ready to answer follow-up questions about all aspects of the research.
5. Policies of external publications, organizations, and conferences where the work may be submitted or presented, in addition to URiCA-sponsored events.
6. URiCA also wants to remind all students that the university has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity, as well as to develop proper procedures for handling cases of academic dishonesty. Students are accountable for doing their work honestly, accurately representing it, citing sources correctly, and respecting the academic efforts of others. More information about student academic disciplinary procedures is available in UWS Chapter 14.