For the third consecutive year, CTAHR Associate Dean for Research Walter T. Bowen, PhD, has partnered with the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program’s (UROPʻs) Mentoring Grant for Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Work to fund more proposals from mentors within the College. The continuation of this partnership through the 2025 application cycle (which is currently open for submissions) is expected to expand opportunities for CTAHR undergraduate students seeking mentorship and funding for summer research and creative projects.
“The additional funds from CTAHR, in partnership with UROP, have resulted in greater CTAHR faculty and student engagement in this valuable mentoring program,” said Bowen. “Our inaugural partnership worked particularly well because the additional funds were not treated as stand-alone CTAHR funds; instead, these funds were fully integrated into the UROP program, and all faculty were treated equally.”
UROP’s Mentoring Grant provides up to $10,000 per proposal to eligible UHM mentors to support undergraduate students engaged in summer research or creative projects. Since its inception in 2019, the Mentoring Grant has provided ~$140,0000 in support of 24 CTAHR mentors. This was made possible in part by additional funding from CTAHR, which has allowed UROP to significantly increase the number of awards to mentors in the College and, by extension, expanding the number of students who can gain valuable research experience. Data about past CTAHR recipients of the Mentoring Grant is available here.
UROP hopes this successful collaboration will serve as a model for future partnerships with other UH Mānoa colleges, further expanding access to mentored research opportunities across campus. “UROP receives many more proposals for summer mentoring than we can fund each year, and the partnership with CTAHR allowed us to support more faculty and students,” said UROP staff. “We are excited to offer this expanded funding opportunity and hope other units across campus will consider similar partnerships.”
The deadline to apply for the 2025 Mentoring Grant is January 17, 2025. UROP encourages CTAHR faculty and staff to consider submitting a proposal during the upcoming holiday season. Prospective applicants to the 2025 Mentoring Grant can view a recording of the information session held about the Mentoring Grant here, and should reach out to urop@hawaii.edu with any questions.
Don’t miss out on the chance to support UH Mānoa undergraduate students in their summer research and creative endeavors!
Pictured in the photo, Dr. Nhu Nguyen (Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences) poses with his mentee, undergraduate student Angelina Spicer, at the 2024 SURE Symposium. Dr. Nguyen, a three-time recipient of the Mentoring Grant (2021, 2022, and 2024), collaborated with Spicer on a project funded with UROP’s Mentoring Grant entitled “Molecular identification of Oahu’s mushroom diversity.”