Hooper Undergraduate Research Award
Urdea Undergraduate Research Award
Student-led Projects in the Arts, Creative Activity, and Scholarship (SPArCS)
The Student-led Projects in the Arts, Creative Activity, and Scholarship (SPArCS) program solicits applications from full-time NAU undergraduate students in the arts, letters, humanities, photography, and film. The SPArCS program encourages undergraduate students to pursue academic interests outside of their regular coursework by providing funding that will enable them to work on special projects of their own design.
Applications will be accepted February 1 – March 1 each year.
Announcements about the SPArCS award recipients will be sent by the end of the first week of April.
Purpose
The intent of the Student-led Projects in the Arts, Creative Activity, and Scholarship (SPArCS) is to encourage greater participation of undergraduate students in the arts, letters, humanities, photography, and film supervised by a faculty mentor.
Eligibility
NAU undergraduates must be:
- enrolled as a full-time student in an undergraduate program for both the fall and spring semesters of the award year; and
- in good academic standing at the time of application and during the period in which the project is funded.
Award
- The maximum award is $5,000 for 1 or 2 students; $7,500 for 3 or more students
- Compensation for student personnel is $16.50/hour.
- Applications will be accepted February 1 – March 1 each year.
- SPArCS notifications will be sent to all applicants by the end of the first week of April.
- Projects can begin as early as June 1 of the awarded year and end as early as December 10 of the awarded year.
SPArCS Application Workshop
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| February 13 | 4:00-5:00 pm | Havasupai AB in the Union |
| February 17 | 4:00-5:00pm | Grand Canyon in the Union |
Application process
Guidelines & Instructions Accordion Open
You should thoroughly review the information found in the SPArCS Request for Proposals and understand all application requirements. If you are proposing a project that involves human subjects, please be sure to pay particular attention to the IRB special instructions in the RFP.
The student’s application portfolio, including the faculty mentor recommendation, is submitted using an online submission portal.
- Use the SPArCS Application Template to create a single document that includes the project description/narrative, timeline, and resume(s).
- Use the SPArCS Budget Worksheet to create an Excel document outlining your budget.
- For 1 or 2 students, use the SPArCS Budget Worksheet
- For 3 or more students, use the SPArCS Group Budget Worksheet
- Sign in to the online submission portal using your Louie login and upload the Word and Excel documents. Additionally, you will need to provide your faculty mentor’s name and email address. An automatic request to complete a recommendation form will be emailed to the faculty mentor.
- You can log back in to the submission portal at any time to make changes to your application or check to see if your faculty recommendation has been received until March 1. It is your responsibility to ensure that your faculty mentor recommendation is submitted no later than March 1.
Application Forms Accordion Closed
The application forms below should be downloaded and saved to your computer.
- SPArCS Application Template NOTE: The project summary, personal statement, methods, roles of participants, dissemination plan, timeline, references, and qualifications of applicant(s) should be included in your application document.
- The budget template must be downloaded separately.
- For 1 or 2 students: SPArCS Budget Worksheet (.xlsx)
- For 3 or more students: SPArCS Group Budget Worksheet
Additional Resources Accordion Closed
If you’re interested in applying for a SPArCS award, you are strongly encouraged—but not required—to:
- Review the PowerPoint Presentation with tips and advice about preparing a competitive proposal
- Attend our in-person workshop (see above), and
- Consult with the Lumberjack Writing Center for assistance with your application.