Eligibility

Quad Summer Grant Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility: 

• Applicants must be matriculated College students in good standing and registered full-time during the spring quarter before the summer award period, as well as the following autumn quarter.
  • Students on a leave of absence are not eligible.
• Open to all College students regardless of country of citizenship.
• Applicants may not have received a prior Quad Summer grant. (Students may only receive one Quad Summer grant during their time at UChicago.)
• Applicants may be rising 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th-year undergraduate students at the University of Chicago. Recent graduates are not eligible, nor can funding be used the summer following graduation.
• Open to all majors.
• Applicants do not need to be already engaged in research with faculty to be eligible to apply.
  • Students who have recently secured an opportunity with a faculty-driven research enterprise are eligible to apply. They will be expected to effectively articulate their research plan and what they will contribute to the broader faculty-driven research project. 
• Applicants’ academic performance should be indicative of sufficient preparation to carry out advanced research as detailed in the proposal.

Project Eligibility:

• Students must be undertaking a project within the scope of their faculty mentor’s overall research or creative inquiry. Advanced students may exert a meaningful degree of intellectual ownership over their portion of the work, but the project must not be “independent” to a degree that places it outside the parameters of the mentor’s research agenda. 
• The award can support research experiences at the University of Chicago or at another US university or research institution. 
  • Eligible non-UChicago institutions include accredited colleges and universities as well as libraries, archives, museums, laboratories, and similar institutions whose primary mission involves scholarly research. For-profit institutions are not eligible. Eligibility is determined at the sole discretion of CCRF.
• Students proposing research that involves human subjects must provide proof that they have secured IRB approval or have completed the application and are awaiting results.
• Applicants must be pursuing undergraduate research during the summer only. Please apply for a Quad Undergraduate Research grant if you are pursuing research during the academic year.
• Projects should require an average time commitment of 37.5 hours per week for 10 weeks (approximately full-time).
  • The research project should be the applicant's primary commitment during the project period.

Not Eligible:

• BA/BS thesis projects, or "self-directed" or "independent" research projects.
  • Thesis writers should consult with their departments about resources that may be available to support their work. See also our Undergraduate Research FAQ.
• Research at an institution outside the United States.
  • Students with offers to engage with summer international faculty-driven research experiences should apply for the Straetz International Research Scholars Program.
• Independent study courses or "reading" courses.
• Grants are issued to the student for the purpose of enabling an academic experience of sustained engagement in research. Funds are not intended to be used for project expenses, including but not limited to: laboratory supplies, computing software or machine time, and compensation or gift cards for research participants. 
• Professional internships, externships, job shadowing, career treks, "micro-" or short-term experiences that are less than 30 days, student activities, course practicums, long-essays produced for courses, or administrative employment positions.
• Applicants must be pursuing undergraduate research during the summer only. Please apply for a Quad Undergraduate Research grant if you are pursuing research during the academic year only.
• Grants are not made for research experiences that are less than ~ 37.5 hours per week; the average committment for a grant of this amount is approximately full-time over a 10-week period over the summer. 
• Students may not receive any funding for undergraduate research if they are also getting credit for the experience. This is a university-wide policy.
• Students may not receive Quad funding if they are being paid for the research through other means (eg Metcalf, a faculty research budget, departmental sources, etc). Applicants will be asked to disclose all sources of funding and any other applications made for funding as a part of their Quad application.