URiCA Travel Grant (Procedure #737.E)

This procedure outlines the call for proposals (CFP) for the Undergraduate Research, Innovative, and Creative Activities (URiCA) Travel Grant.

Director, URiCA

GenAI: Generative Artificial Intelligence is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new and original content.

IACUC: The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is a federally mandated committee responsible for overseeing an institution’s animal care program, procedures, and facilities to ensure the ethical and humane treatment of laboratory animals.

IRB: The Institutional Review Board is an administrative body responsible for protecting the rights, safety, and welfare of human subjects involved in research.

Mentor: A faculty or staff member hired by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with expertise in the area of a student's project.

Project: Any research, innovative, or creative endeavor undertaken by a student and their mentor and funded by URiCA.

Travel Grant: A grant opportunity applied for by mentors to support students’ travel costs to conferences, workshops, and travel-study courses that have a research component. The duration of these grants varies based on the activity outlined in the mentor’s proposal.

URiCA: The Undergraduate Research, Innovative, and Creative Activities Program funds projects for students across all disciplines at UW-Whitewater.

A) Eligibility

1. Mentors from any campus discipline are eligible to apply. The mentor must submit applications to support students traveling to a conference to present research or for a travel-study course that includes a research component. URiCA does not set research priorities; therefore, we will review applications from all disciplines. The faculty member must submit the application.
2. The Undergraduate Research, Innovative, and Creative Activities Program will allocate up to $250 per student researcher on the project, with a maximum of $2,000 per project. An additional $1,000 can be requested for research supplies. These funds can be used for research or project supplies, travel expenses, and other related costs. All University of Wisconsin and UW-Whitewater spending policies will be followed, and no exceptions to these rules will be allowed.

B) Timeline

1. Application Deadline: The deadline remains open until all funds are used up.
2. Notification: URiCA will inform applicants listed in the proposal of the decision within 2 weeks of their application being approved.
3. Award Period: The grant and expenditure periods will be the Academic Year (September 1 through April 30), with the start date adjusted based on when the application is received. The Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Whitewater policies have set cutoff dates for certain purchases; these dates are fixed and cannot be changed. Expenditures are only permitted for the proposed project and cannot be used to support other projects or future mentor projects.

C) Application Materials

1. Mentor applications should be formatted with single-spacing, a 12-point font, and one-inch margins. Applications must include the following:
   1. Cover Letter: A cover letter that includes a project title, student(s) name(s), department(s), major(s), and mentor(s) name(s) and department(s).
   2. Summary: A two-page overview that describes the project and its significance. This summary should clearly specify whether the funds will be used for conference travel or to support a travel study course.
   3. Statement of Project Goals: An outline of specific project objectives or steps necessary to answer the research question or complete the project. Include in this statement a tentative schedule indicating when those goals are expected to be achieved.
   4. Project Budget (with justification of expenses): A detailed outline of how the funds will be used for this project. Each item should include a description of its purpose and explain how the expense helps achieve one of the project's goals.
   5. 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.

D) Apply

1. Mentor(s): Send the completed proposal as a Word Document or PDF to URP@uww.edu with the subject line (Mentor Last Name) Travel Grant Application
2. URiCA staff will review the application within 48 hours and send an acknowledgment of submission. If any components are missing, you will be notified and have 48 hours (roughly 2 days) to respond by submitting a new application with the missing elements.

E) Review

1. Review by URiCA/ORSP: At least one member of the ORSP/URiCA staff will review the proposal and evaluate it based on the following criteria:
   1. The proposal highlights the advantages of the trip.
   2. The application clearly specifies the project's deliverables and outputs.
   3. Do the student(s) and mentor(s) meet the criteria set by the URiCA for the proposed project?

F) Award Notifications

Awarded proposals will be notified to students and faculty mentors listed in the proposal within two weeks of accepting their research proposal.

G) Award Responsibilities

1. All personnel involved in awarded projects must agree to the following:
   1. Before beginning work on the grant, the students and mentor must:
      1. If research is to be conducted on a travel course. In that case, each mentor and student must complete a Responsible Conduct of Research course and, if needed, a course in Social, Behavioral, and Educational (SBE) Sciences.
   2. Documents and Presentations
      1. Students must present at UWW’s Fall or Spring Undergraduate Research Day, in November or April, respectively.
      2. Travel Grant students and mentors must also submit an extended abstract (2,500 to 4,000 words) to URiCA by the end of the Spring semester. These abstracts will be archived on URiCA’s website.

  
H) URiCA AI Usage Policy
 
See UWW Policy 736: URiCA AI Usage with respect to the URiCA Travel Grant.

First approved: May 14, 2026

May 2031

Questions regarding the interpretation of this procedure should be directed to:

John Frye

Director, URiCA Program

fryej@uww.edu

262-472-1268