Research or Creative Experience for Undergraduates

RCEU Program Description and General Overview

The purpose of the UAH RCEU program is:

• engage undergraduate participants via hands-on, active participation in a research, creative, or scholarly project outside of their normal curricular program of study;
• foster one-on-one collaboration between undergraduate participants and a faculty or researcher staff mentor on the project;
• educate students in research and creative activity in their chosen academic fields
• offer professional development workshops to help guide the participant in leveraging their research, creative or scholarly experience;
• expose undergraduate participants to academic scholarship and scholarly works that are associated with the project; and
• provide a platform for undergraduate participants to present the results of their research or creative work to the UAH community.

The overall vision of the Program is to sustain a vibrant culture of research and creative activities for undergraduates at UAH.

Mentors may apply for both the Honors Capstone Research program and the RCEU. Multiple proposals can be submitted to both programs by the same mentor, but EACH proposal must be unique and offer an opportunity for a unique individual undergraduate participant. That is, in the case that a mentor submits more than one proposal to either or both programs, in order to maintain eligibility, there must be NO duplicate proposals OR candidates within AND across both programs.

Students interested in the RCEU should carefully review the complete outline of regulations, eligibility and expectations, BEFORE applying. Details on apply can be found here.

Time Commitment

Students undertake activities within a research or creative work project typically lasting for 10 weeks in the summer and under the direct supervision of a UAH full-time faculty member or researcher (including tenure-earning and tenured faculty, lecturers, and research staff with term faculty appointments). The official dates of the program are those of the Summer Semester.

Participants will be expected to participate to the extent needed to complete the project activities within the 10-week period. These project activities and time commitment are established by the faculty/research staff who will mentor the project. 

The official dates of the program correspond to the 10-week Summer Semester starting and ending dates. However, the individual project starting and ending dates, as well as the contact hours, can be flexible and should be decided individually between the participant and mentor in advance of starting the project. 

Students apply to proposals via Handshake (Charger Path), which requires an approved resume on file with Career Services. Therefore, interested candidates are encouraged to complete this process prior to the release of the Call for Submissions. 

RCEU students receive a stipend of $3,750. Please be informed that the stipend may impact the financial aid or other financial standings of the participant.

Room & Board

Housing will be available in University housing at the usual rates for summer occupancy. Meals will be available for purchase on campus. Students may use the stipend for meals and housing, but no additional funds will be available. The stipend will be made in two payments. Half at the beginning of the program, and half at the midterm.

Enrollment Requirements

To participate in the program, students must be enrolled as a UAH undergraduate student and cannot graduate before the Fall Semester following the Summer program. While previous RCEU student participants can apply, preference will be given to new student applicants. Women and minority students will be encouraged to apply. Proposing faculty and researchers are requested to encourage female and minority student applicants.

Activities

A non-exclusive list of possible activities includes laboratory experiments, musical compositions, field studies, clinical projects, engineering experiments and projects, theoretical work, human behavior studies, writing projects, and visual art projects.

Students are required to attend professional development sessions in the summer as part of the RCEU program. At the end of the program, students are expected to present their work in one or more public forums and strongly encouraged to submit a manuscript for consideration to Perpetua, the UAH Journal of Undergraduate Research. The mentor is expected to complete a survey and write a review of the student’s performance and the educational benefit received by the student. This survey and review assists in evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

Acknowledgements

The program is funded through the office of the President, the office of the Provost, and the office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at UAH, as well as through the College of Science, the College of Business, the College of Nursing, Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program, the Alabama Space Grant Consortium and other sources as they become available. The Faculty Senate Finance and Resources Committee reviews RCEU proposals and makes individual awards. The committee strives to provide an equitable distribution of awards between colleges and departments.

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