Provost’s Fund for Student Research
Provost's Fund for Student Research Application
Guidelines and Application Instructions
The Office of Academic Affairs awards grants for student research through the Provost’s Fund for Student Research. Grants are awarded in the Fall and Spring of each academic year.
The Provost’s Fund for Student Research will award up to $50,000, with an approximate 50/50 percentage split between two funding rounds. Students may apply for grants for any legitimate purpose that would enhance their research efforts. For example, grant money could be used to access special research collections, data compilation, the purchase of equipment unique to the student’s project, or for research presentations.
Nature and scope of the project:
The faculty/student collaboration in the project is flexible. The two models that have been used commonly are:
- Faculty-directed projects where the student works with the faculty member in a substantial way; or
- Student-directed projects where the faculty member serves as mentor and advisor
Guidelines:
- Maximum grant amount: $1,200 per student and $1,500 per project, and generally not more than $240 of a student award or $300 of a project award may include research costs.
- Student applicants must be in good academic standing
- Funding should be targeted at research, publication, conference, and presentation expenses.
- The final project should carry the student’s name(s).
- The final project should formally acknowledge the support of the University.
- Travel expenses are limited to the student expenses for conference fees, transportation, and hotel (2-night maximum unless justified in application)—Faculty conference and travel expenses are not allowable.
- Grant funds must be expended prior to June 15, 2024.
Timeline for 2023-2024:
- Application deadline round one: October 10, 2023 (Awards made on or about October 31, 2023)
- Application deadline round two: February 6, 2024 (Awards made on or about February 27, 2024)
How to Apply:
Faculty must submit applications for the student(s) on their behalf. Please submit applications through this link: Provost's Fund for Student Research Application (You will be required to sign in with your RWU credentials).
Complete the above linked form with the following information.
- Project Name
- Faculty Sponsor(s) Name(s) and Email(s)
- Student Name(s) and Emails(s)
- Purpose for request including conference/competition information, if applicable
- Requested Budget Amounts
AND then upload the application as a single PDF*. The application must include:
- Abstract (100-word max),
- Narrative description of the project written as to be accessible to non-specialists (1-2 pages),
- Budget with specifics of how this grant money would be used, with as much supporting material and detailed information as possible, and details of any other funding received,
- Letter of support from faculty mentor/sponsor that includes discussion of the appropriateness the grant request to the project and the budget, and
- Optional second letter of support.
*Please note: The application PDF must use the following naming convention: Student Last Name, Student First Name-ProvostFundApp2023-2024.pdf, using capital letters to delimit words rater than spaces. For example, an application from Lisa Quinn would be named Quinn,Lisa-ProvostFundApp2023-2024.pdf.
Applications to the Provost’s Fund for Student Research are reviewed by a committee comprised of the Provost (or their designee), the Chairperson of the University Life Committee of the Faculty Senate (or their designee), and a second faculty member selected by the Senate Elections Committee.
2022-2023 Awards:
| Student(s) Name(s) | Faculty Sponsor(s) | Title of Project/Presentation | Research Accepted for Presentation at: |
| Parker Schwartz | Professors Meg Case and James Tackach | Is Maus Appropriate for Young Readers? | Sigma Tau Delta (English Literary Honorary Society) Convention |
| Madeline (Maddie) Geary | Professors Meg Case and Cynthia Scheinberg | Jane Eyre: Redefining Relationships with God | Sigma Tau Delta (English Literary Honorary Society) Convention |
| Richard McGee, Charles McGowan, Anya Firisen, Jordan Durfee, Alexander Aiken, Philip Hayes, and Brigid McSweeney | Professor Sargon Donabed | On Fairy Stories | FanExpo Boston |
| Venus Fu | Professor Ahmet Akosman | 3D-Printing Compatible Low Loss Negative Curvature Fiber Design for Terahertz Regime | IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference |
| Caterina Liseo, Dean Caliri, Jason Howe, Donald Montminy, and Christopher Flynn | Professor Pamela Judge | Analysis and Design of Cliff Walk Collapse | Eastern Colleges Science Conference |
| Michael Hallin and Felix Osagie | Professor Alejandro Leguizamo | Applying the Confluence Model with Latino Men: Preliminary Findings | Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA) |
| Alec Kalogeropoulos, Alivia DeGrotta, Christopher Neubauer, Brendan Wyllie, Alyssa Foerster, and Elias Carr | Professor Amine Ghanem | ASC Region 1 Commercial Competition | Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 1 |
| Kevin Noyes , Brendan Smith, Sean Dwyer, George Smith, David Sales, and Jay Forneiro | Professor Jonathan Gomes | ASC Region 1 Competition (Heavy Civil) | Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 1 |
| Bailee Amaral, Brooke McErlain, Casey Brennan, and Kyle Slocum | Professor Michael Emmer & Anne Anderson | Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 International Conference and Competition | ASC Region 8 International Student Competition |
| Ian Sagers, Patrick Barboza, Scott Bassi, Todd Fournier, and Corey Lydon | Professor Lillian Jeznach | Atmospheric Microplastic Fallout Collector Design and Implementation | New England Water Works Spring Conference and Exhibition |
| Sydney J. Lauer | Professor Meg Case | Breaking the Rescuer Paradigm in Shrek | Sigma Tau Delta Convention 2023 (National Honorary Society for English Literature) |
| Dominique Dame and MacKenzie Maitland | Professor Adam Moore | Career and Purpose: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study of College Students with Disabilities | Council for Exceptional Children Annual Convention& Expo |
| Ella Menoche | Professor Anne Tait | Carver with a Ripped Apron: Online Exhibition, Vermont Marble Museum | Vermont Humanities Grant |
| Santiago Armas | Professor Ahmet Akosman | Centriolic Topologies for Hollow Core Elliptical Negative Curvature Fibers | IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference |
| Samantha Soares | Professor Victoria Heimer-McGinn | Cognitive Impairments in a Mouse Model of Bipolar Disorder | 2023 International Conference on Learning and Memory |
| Veronica Ouellette | Professor Marcie Marston | Comparative Genomic Analysis of Marine Viruses | 11th Aquatic Virus Workshop (AVW11) |
| Preston Sharrock | Professor Stephen O'Shea | Comparative In-Situ Spin Trapping of Singlet Oxygen by Natural Fruit Antioxidant Molecules | ACS Spring 2023: Crossroads of Chemistry American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition |
| Kim Rodrigues, Megan Griswold, and Maeve Haldeman | Professor Garett Berman | Creating Clarity Through Impurity! A Novel Examination of the NRE Database for Mistaken Identifications | American Psychology-Law Society |
| Cassandra Cerasia | Professor Christopher Burtner | CRISPR Cas12a Modification of the Rotifer Brachionus Plicatilis | ACS Spring 2023 Crossroads of Chemistry |
| Alec Kalogeropoulos, Tanya Gianitsos, Sophia Studley, Guinevere Rhuda, and Luke Carey | Professor Issa Ramaji | DBIA 2022 Student Competition | 2022 National Design-Build Student Competition |
| Santiago Armas, Joseph Lombardo. Ian Ramirez, and Faisal Algethmi | Professors Allison Marn and Ahmet Akosman | Design and Fabrication of Multimode Terahertz Optical Fibers | 2023 IEEE R1 & R2 Joint Student Conference |
| Antal Lee | Professor Clifford Murphy | Design and manufacture of electrode sample chambers for electrochemical detection of thiocyanate in saliva | ACS Spring 2023 |
| Meriel McGovern | Professors Robert Dermody and William Palm | Designing an experimental aquarium system to explore the microbiology of quiescence in the coral Astrangia Poculata | National Collegiate Honors Conference |
| Hannah Mitchell | Professors Brian Wysor and Allex Gourlay | Determining Optimal Media and Light Intensity to Culture Margalefidinium Polykrikoides, Rust Tide | Northeast Algal Symposium |
| Luke Wing, Luke Calabrese, Patrick Aldrich, Alexander Bertone , Logan Bolarinho, and Lauren Duross | Professor Charles Thomas | Development and Fabrication of a Small Scale, Inexpensive Wave Tank | Eastern Colleges Science Conference |
| Hunter Phillips and Russell Quinn | Professor Ahmet Akosman | Development of Ultrafast Pulsed Er Fiber Laser with Homemade 2D Graphene Saturable Absorbers | IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference |
| Benjamin Carolan and Abigail St. Jean | Professor Brian Wysor | DNA Barcoding of Crustose Coralline Algae Biodiversity from Reef Aquaria | Northeast Algal Symposium |
| Julie Gerstner | Professor Clifford Murphy | Electrochemical Sensing of Thiocyanate Ions in Saliva Samples for Early Screening of Potential Oral and Gastric Cancers | ACS Spring 2023 |
| Kristen Marie Black | Professors Debra A. Mulligan and Charlotte Carrington-Farmer | Elizabeth O'Farrell: Putting Women Back in the Irish Narrative | Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Conference |
| Quentin Barry, Bianca Pino, Irem Keskin, Max Noonan, Tyler Pratt, and David Fasolino | Professor Maija Benitz | Engineering Senior Design Project: Bike-Trailerable Multi-Passenger Boat | Eastern Colleges Science Conference |
| Riley Clyde | Professors Robert Dermody and William Palm | Examining the Affordability of the Cost of Childcare for Lower-Income Families | National Collegiate Honors Conference |
| Bianca Pino and Logan Bolarinho | Professor Gordon Stewart | Impacts of Wind/Wave Misalignment on Wake Meandering of Floating Wind Turbines | NAWEA/Windtech annual conferen |
| Isabel August | Professor Stephen O'Shea | Investigation of Langmuir and Freundlich Adsorption Isotherms of Essential Nutrient Anions (NO2-, NO3-, NH4+, PO43-, and SO42-) by Martian Regolith Simulants and Mount Hope Bay Sediments and Their Impact on Primary Producers' Growth | ACS Spring 2023: Crossroads of Chemistry - American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition |
| Maggie Stefanowicz | Professor Stephen O'Shea | Investigation of Phosphorus Deposition in Mount Hope Bay from Freshwater Inputs | ACS Spring 2023: Crossroads of Chemistry American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition |
| Stephanie Rioux | Professors Li-Ling Yang and Maija Benitz | KidWind: Impacts of Engaged Engineering Teaching Experience on Elementary Education Majors | National Conference on Undergraduate Research 2023 |
| Teagan Bellitto | Professor Stephen O'Shea | Metal Ion Sequestration from Martian Simulant Regolith and Decarbonated Marine Sediment to Establish Their Suitability as Plant Substrate Growth Support | ACS Spring 2023: Crossroads of Chemistry (American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition) |
| Michael Hamlin | Professor Alejandro Leguizamo | Moral Foundations Theory and Sex Offender Policy: Explaining Similarities Between Political Ideologies | |
| Carly Ferreira | Professor Stephen O'Shea | Mt. Hope Bay Sediment and Martian Regolith Simulant Nutrient Flux Impact on Algal and Diatoms Oxygen Production | ACS Spring 2023: Crossroads of Chemistry American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition |
| Zachary Dibacco, Alyssa Foerster, Robert Raine, Jeana Papagno, John Tine, and Matthew Schwartz | Professor Michael Emmer | National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student competition | The National Association of Home Builders |
| Kristiana Cloutier | Professor Kelly Brooks | Perceptions of Ingroup Norm-Violators in the Context of COVID-19 Attitudes | 2023 Convention of the Society for Social and Personality Psychology(SPSP) |
| Jamie Barthe, Mathew Fortin, Jennifer Kroon, Anderson Lopez, Russell Quinn, and Keith Sherry | Professor Ahmet Akosman | Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from the Hull of a Ship | 2023 IEEE R1&R2 Joint Student Conference |
| Mackenzie Conner, Jacob Sugerman, Erica Dube, Will Golembeski, Conor Harrington, and Antal Lee | Professor Allison Marn | Portable Microplastic Detection Device | 2023 IEEE R1 & R2 Joint Student Conference |
| Addison Boisvert, Anya Firisen, Abigail Sargent, Madeline Nigro, and Alexander Aiken | Professor Sargon Donabed | Protomythologies and How they Impact the Story of the Wheel of Time/ Creative Project Donation | Jordancon 2023 |
| Kristen Hearrold, Alexandra Houle, and Elizabeth Van Liew | Professor Denielle Emans | Racism Stops With Us: Reimagining Social Change Through Design Research | N/A |
| Joshua Gallardo | Professor Christopher Anderson | Reuniting Foundational Figures in Communication with the Education Hierarchy: Matching the People in Our History Books with the University Community of Our Students | National Communication Association Annual Conference |
| Bailee Amaral, Alyssa Foerster, Guinevere Rhuda, Alec Kalogeropoulos, Andrew Piccolo, Daniel Wilson, and Bryce Riccitelli | Professor Anne Anderson | RWU Virtual Design & Construction Team – Associated Schools of Construction Regions 6, 7, and Open Student Competition | Associated Schools of Construction Regions 6, 7, and Open Student Competition |
| Callum Robbins, George Higham, Ray Cerro, Victor Larssen, Kyle Haner, and Kieran Leary | Professor Gordon Steward | Sailboat Mast Mounted Wind Turbine | Eastern Colleges Science Conference |
| Hannah Baldwin | Professor Matt Zaitchik | Sentence Length and Perceptions of Dangerousness as a Function of Race, Attributional Complexity and Ability to Meet Bail | American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference |
| Thomas Irvine and Benjamin Carolan | Professor Brian Wysor | Setting the Baseline: Determining Species Richness of Rhode Island Red Algae using DNA Barcoding | Northeast Algal Symposium |
| Niciole Tella | Professor Michael L. Hall | Sexual Assault Prevention Evaluation | SARE Center |
| Gabriella Poulin | Professor Mina Poursharifi | Synthesis and Characterization of Liposomal NPs for Cancer Therapy | American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2023 |
| Olivia Ahlborg, Nicholas Mattia, Bryce Riccitelli, Connor Maguire, and Danny J. Wilson | Professor Jung Hyun Lee | The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 1 Design-Build Student Competition | Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 1 |
| Alison Klein | Professor Bonita Cage | The Effect of Parent Closeness on the Relationship Between Mental Health Symptomology and Substance Use Motivations: An Application of Motivational Models of Substance Use | Master degree in Department of Psychology |
| Megan Griswold, Maeve Haldeman, and Kim Rodrigues | Professor Garett Berman | Wrongful Convictions Are Not Colorblind: An Archival Examination of Exoneree Race | Eastern Psychological Association |
Contact Lisa Quinn (lquinn@rwu.edu) with any questions.