Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grants
Faculty & Staff: Challenge your students to develop their research skills through course-based projects. Get support from our office to do it.
Recipients of Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grants incorporate a larger assignment that challenges students to develop their research and creative skills, receive $500, and get support from CURF through workshops and advising.
General Information
What is Undergraduate Research?
Research is an iterative process of inquiry that contributes to the creation of new knowledge. It can occur in the lab, the library, the archive, the studio, and beyond, and engages certain methodologies according to each field. Undergraduate students can contribute significantly to research. We encourage faculty and staff to assist undergraduates in developing not only faculty-driven projects, but also independent projects to be presented and published on a larger scale.
KU Center for Undergraduate Research provides guidance for two mechanisms for undergraduate student engagement in research: The Research Cycle and The Creative Cycle.
- The Research Cycle establishes a core research question or argument (the hypothesis) through critical observation of previous work. Once students have established the novelty of the question or argument, the students develop a disciplinary specific set of experiments. The results from the experiments are critically analyzed to evaluate whether the data supports or refutes the original hypothesis. Analyzed results are presented for feedback.
- The Creative Cycle engages in a process of discovery through iterative making, critique, and synthesis of broader intellectual and cultural frameworks, culminating in a public-facing exhibition or performance of the resulting creative artifact. Drawing on hybrid research methodologies ranging from literature review to archival or fieldwork and material experimentation, creative research often uniquely contributes to both disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge production.
What is a Research-Focused Undergraduate Course?
A Research-Focused Course provides an opportunity for students to learn about and engage in the Research/Creative Cycle by:
- presenting research methodology applicable to the students’ field
- developing critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and intellectual independence
- using scaffolded assignments to familiarize students with the iterative process of the research/creative cycle
- culminating in the students’ presentation of research or creative artifact to further contribute to knowledge in the field.
Faculty Mini-Grant Information
We hold two Research Intensive Course Mini-Grant application cycles each year: one each fall for spring courses and one each spring for fall courses.
Spring 2027 course application deadline: September 11th, 2026.
Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grants provide support to instructors interested in incorporating more intensive research and creative projects into their undergraduate classes. Class projects envisioned by instructors should push students further in the Research/Creative Cycle (.docx) than would normally be expected of the typical student enrolled in the course. These could be semester-long research projects, or shorter, more focused, units of a class that build research skills. The goal of this program is to increase the number of students who have the opportunity to have a research experience at KU, as well as to provide professional development opportunities for faculty interested in expanding their teaching toolbox.
Grant recipients will participate in three workshops in the semester prior to implementation of the course (ex. SP27 course workshops held in the FA26 semester). Recipients will be required to submit an assignment or teaching tool that will be available to other instructors after teaching the course. See the "Expectations" tab below for more details.
Program Details
Grant recipients will receive $500 at the beginning of the semester that could be for the instructor's own personal use or to support the course itself. Funds can be processed through payroll or transferred to a departmental account. If the instructor decides to use the funds for the course, funds could be used for things such as:
- supplies for the project
- a class trip to visit an archive, field site, etc.
- paying a graduate or undergraduate research consultant to assist with the class and guide students on their projects. The grant recipient would select these students and hire them as hourly employees to assist with the course.
Additional funds may be available for courses that are taking on more intensive research and creative projects. If you are interested in applying for additional funding for your course, email us to set up an appointment.
Tenure-track faculty, career and specialty track faculty, and full-time lecturers (Lawrence or Edwards campus) are eligible to apply for a Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grant.
Eligible courses can be online or in-person and must enroll primarily undergraduate students. The course must be offered during the fall or spring semester. Please apply the semester before you plan to offer the course. Instructors teaching classes from across the disciplines of sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, and professional schools are encouraged to apply. Undergraduate classes of any size, and at any level (introductory to advanced), are eligible.
If you are unsure if you or your course qualify, please email curf@ku.edu to inquire about eligibility.
- Participate in three workshops prior to the start of the semester in which they receive the award. There will be 1 to 2 hours of prep work to complete before this workshop. Workshops are currently being restructured, but SP27 recipients can expect them to be October-December.
- Use the Research/Creative Cycle (.docx) to frame their assignment for students. By using this image with students, we are hoping to provide a common framework that students can use to connect their research experiences across classes.
- Require students to present their research or creative projects at the Fall Research Showcase (for fall courses) or the Undergraduate Research Symposium (for spring courses).
- Provide a copy of a teaching tool and/or course assignments that can be shared as an Open Educational Resource (OER) through KU Scholarworks. The Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships and KU Libraries will work with grant recipients to select appropriate Creative Commons licensing for their materials.
Application Directions
Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grants are offered for the fall and spring semesters.
Applicants should submit the online application form prior to the deadline.
The application consists of questions about your plans for revising a pre-existing research/creative component or creating a new research/creative component for your course. For an overview of the application questions to help you prepare, please review this document: Application Questions (.docx)
Advising and Questions
If you have any questions about Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grants or would like assistance generating ideas for a class that you will be teaching curf@ku.edu. Center staff will be happy to meet with you to discuss plans for your class and help you develop a strong application.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications for a Research-Intensive Course Mini-Grant will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Merit and impact of the proposed course revisions. Courses can demonstrate an impact in different ways. A large class may have a smaller research component yet reach a large number of students, whereas a smaller course may be able to provide a more in-depth research experience. We encourage applications from all types of courses.
- Degree to which students would be challenged beyond normal research requirements for students at that level or in that major and the incorporation of the Research Cycle.
- Feasibility and sustainability of the proposed course revisions.
Priority will be given to applicants who have not received a Research-Intensive Course Grant in the past.
Consultations
The KU Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships (CURF) brings together scholarship advisors and research mentors from across campus to serve KU undergraduate students and faculty. You can schedule an appointment or class visit.
Consult with a KU librarian to design learning opportunities that develop critical thinking, awareness of information sources, and an understanding of the research process. A librarian can help teach your students the research skills and understand information resources needed to complete research projects in your course.
Consult with the Instructional Design Librarian, Kelly Hangauer, to develop and incorporate assignment design, research skills, and online learning objects into your research-intensive course.
Apply for KU Libraries’ Sprints Week, a five-day intensive collaboration that supports KU faculty and academic staff 's research and teaching projects to produce a tangible outcome during the spring-summer intersession. Sprinters are awarded a $1,000 stipend. Read about the 2025 Sprints Week participants.
Student Opportunities
Undergraduate Research Awards (UGRAs) are $1,000 scholarships provided to undergraduate students pursuing original research or creative projects under the general guidance of a research mentor. The UGRA proposal guidelines can serve as a real-world teaching tool for faculty addressing project development or grant writing in the classroom.
CURF holds an Undergraduate Research Showcase each Fall and an Undergraduate Research Symposium each Spring to provide a venue for students to share the results of their research and creative projects with the campus community. The presentation guidelines help provide a framework for students preparing to present their research/creative work.