Research Impact Award
These $1000 awards are highly competitive. Applicants must meet all the funding eligibility criteria and submit an application form by the application deadline on the 2nd Tuesday in October 13, 2026. If awarded, funding will be available for the following spring semester. Questions concerning the Research Impact Award may be directed to ourci AT_TOWSON.
Who is eligible to apply for funding?
Undergraduate students at TU who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program with 6 or more credits are eligible to apply for the Research Impact Awards. Students will also need to be enrolled for the Spring semester of the award. Students graduating in December are not eligible.
What happens after you apply?
A small group of finalists will be notified by OURCI in late fall after the URCI Committee has evaluated all of the proposals. Each finalist will be asked to conduct a short in-person presentation before committee members in early December. The final decision will be made at the end of the fall semester.
Application Elements
The committee evaluating the applications includes faculty from all colleges and the library. Committee members recognize that different fields of scholarly pursuit use different language and measure the significance of the work in different ways. For this reason, there are two different sets of headings, with somewhat different instructions for the materials that should be included. You will need to choose the type of project you will be doing: Research Project or a Creative Inquiry Project. If you are not sure (or if your project has elements of both research and creative inquiry), please ask your faculty mentor or email ourci@towson.edu.
A complete application consists of the following:
- Project Summary
- Project Description
- Resume/CV
- Faculty mentor’s recommendation letter
The student applying for the award should submit the first three items through the online form, and the faculty mentor should send the recommendation letter directly to ourci AT_TOWSON.
Faculty mentors are asked to support only one student for the award.
Project Summary
For both types of projects, you will need to prepare a short project summary, up to 200 words, that describes your project for those unfamiliar with your discipline. Try to engage the reader through your writing so they are interested in learning more from the rest of your application.
Project Description
The project description is a 3-4 page document, not counting bibliography, assuming single spaced text with at least 11 point font and at least 1 inch margins. (We will not be measuring the margins or fonts, but if they are very small, the committee will notice.) Each description should have the following headings; the titles of the headings vary depending on whether this is a research project or a creative inquiry project.
Research Project Description
For research projects your description should have the following underlined sections.
Project Significance
Describe the significance of the project. Why is it important (a rationale)? What value does this research bring to the field? For example, if your project benefits an academic field or serves the broader community, please describe these benefits here. Please cite supporting research to strengthen your rationale.
Methodology and Collection of Data or Evidence
Provide a clear description of how you will conduct your research. If you are using a well-established methodology, be sure to cite. Please try to keep your description as non-technical as possible to be accessible to the reviewers. This is also a good place to describe your prior experience.
Project Goals and Timeline
Clearly articulate your specific goals and a feasible timeline for your research project. It is entirely possible that things will not go according to plan. If such a possibility exists for your project, please briefly explain how you would adjust.
Connection to Professional Goals
Describe how this project connects to your personal professional goals.
References Cited (Bibliography/Citations)
List the sources that you referenced in this document. If you haven’t referenced any sources… are you sure there isn’t anything to cite?
Creative Inquiry Project Description
For creative inquiry projects your description should have the following underlined sections.
Project Significance
Describe the significance of the project. What value does this project add to the field? What does this project contribute to our understanding of your area of creative inquiry? Define your audience and describe the motivation behind your project. If using supporting sources, please cite.
Methodology and Collection of or Showcasing of Evidence
Describe your methods. For example, what artistic tradition will you use as the starting point (describe what influences you)? Explain if you are taking any creative risks. Think of this as a project-specific statement. Please use citations for all supporting resources.
Project Goals and Timeline
Clearly articulate your specific goals and a feasible timeline for your research project. It is entirely possible that things will not go according to plan. If such a possibility exists for your project, please briefly explain how you would adjust.
Connection to Professional Goals
Describe how this project connects to your personal professional goals. Think of this as a one or two paragraph artist statement describing your overall goals and interests as an artist, and then connect the project to these goals.
Samples/References/Artistic Tradition
If you are referring to works of other artists or your previous work in your application, this is a convenient place to include the references. They could be image references or bibliographic sources.
Resume
The Resume should be 1-2 pages and highlight relevant academic, research and work experience. We recommend students visit the TU Career Center (linked here) for support including resume reviews.
Faculty Recommendation
Your faculty mentor must submit a confidential letter of support to ourci AT_TOWSON by the published deadline date. You should ensure that your faculty mentor will submit a supporting letter on your behalf. Faculty mentors should note the information about faculty responsibilities if the application is successful.
Evaluation Rubric
This section describes how the committee will evaluate your application.
Significance of the Project
For research projects: how well did you articulate significance of the project in the context of the discipline, or applications of the discipline, or significance to the community?
For creative inquiry projects: is the concept of the project well-articulated and is the target audience described and appropriate for the project?
Goals and Timeline
Are the goals reasonable given your preparation and timeline; is the project well thought-out; are there contingency plans? Did you provide clear milestones within your timeline?
Methods
For research projects: is the methodology appropriate to address the research question? Do you have basic skills and knowledge required to use the proposed methods?
For creative inquiry projects: do you have good command of the basics of the artistic tradition of the project? Does the project description give a sense of artistic voice or could it lead to the discovery of the artistic voice?
Personal/Professional goals
Does the project provide a good foundation for your personal and/or professional plans, for instance, graduate school or other nationally competitive opportunities? Would the training provided by the project substantially extend the standard coursework at TU?
Award Conditions
You must present your research at the annual TU Research and Creative Inquiry Forum.