Applicant Eligibility:
- Applicants must be matriculated College students and registered full-time during the award period.
- This award has a preference for students in their first and second years at UChicago.
- Students on a leave of absence or on "No Further Enrollments Required (NFER)" status are not eligible.
- Students who transition from full-time enrollment to "Extended Status" during the duration of their Quad grant may retain the grant.
- Recent graduates are not eligible, nor can funding be used following graduation.
- This grant is for students new to research. We take this to mean that applicants should have less than one quarter of formal, outside-of-class research experience in the discipline in which they are proposing to work.
- Open to all College students regardless of country of citizenship.
- Students may receive only one Quad Go! grant during their time at UChicago.
- 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 working on faculty-driven research projects at the University of Chicago. The project's faculty mentor must be formally appointed (paid) by the University of Chicago.
- Potential mentors include instructional and senior instructional professors as well as senior scholars with University arts and research institutes. This includes but is not limited to the Smart Museum, Court Theatre, Hannah Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, Franke Institute, and Neubauer Collegium.
- 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 academic year only. Please apply for a Quad Summer Undergraduate Research grant if you are pursuing research during the summer.
- Projects should require an average time commitment of 7-10 hours per week for at least one academic quarter (longer engagement is encouraged).
Not Eligible:
- BA/BS thesis projects, or "self-directed" or "independent" research projects.
- Students must be undertaking a project within the scope of their faculty mentor’s overall research or creative inquiry. As students progress, they may exert an increased degree of intellectual ownership over their portion of the work, and use their work in a thesis project, but the project must not be “independent” to a degree that places it outside the parameters of the mentor’s research agenda.
- Thesis writers should consult with their departments about resources that may be available to support their work. See also our Undergraduate Research FAQ.
- Research not undertaken at, and mentored by an appointee of, the University of Chicago.
- Independent study courses or "reading" courses.
- 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.
- Research undertaken during 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 (e.g., 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. Note, students are welcome to apply for multiple sources of funding, but may ultimately accept only one.