Your Proposal

Proposals are due by midnight on February 16, 2023. You and your advisor will be notified of funding before Spring Break. Your proposal should not exceed 6 pages total, and must include the following items.

Basic information

The first page of the proposal must use the template below. 

Why do you want to do research this summer? How have you developed your interest and knowledge in STEM fields? How will your participation in SESUR aid in reaching your academic and career goals? (limit – the rest of this page)

Please use the naming convention of yourlastname-facultylastname-SESUR-2023.pdf 

Download template (docx)

Description of the proposed project

This section should comprise the bulk of your proposal. What is the broad question you will be addressing? Why is it a significant or important question? How exactly will you address it? What are the objectives of the research? What methods will you use?

Tentative work plan

When will you do the work you’ve proposed? When do you plan to be in the field? If you need to collect/prepare samples for lab analysis, when will you work in the lab? You should also include time for data analysis and poster making. This section should not be written in paragraph form - a bulleted list or table is preferred.

Intellectual property

Not in the proposal, yet mentors will be asked for one paragraph on whether, and if so, how the proposed research integrates with their own projects and if so what will be the separate intellectual property of the SESUR student.

Example proposals

Reviewing the examples of past successful proposals, provided below, may prove useful for helping you think about how to construct your own proposal. No budget information is required.

• Example Proposal 1
• Example Proposal 2
• Example Proposal 3
• Social Science Proposal
• Modeling Proposal
• Machine Learning Proposal

Apply Here

If you are accepted...

Students who participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program are required to:

• Enroll in SUSTAIN 100: Research Preparation (1 unit) during spring quarter. The course includes several activities to help you create a successful research experience.
• Attend a weekly lunch seminar series during the summer (when on campus), which will include lectures by faculty and workshops on poster-making and oral presentations.
• Participate in a research symposium with a poster or oral presentation. Options are in the fall at SURPS and the Sustainability Undergraduate Research Symposium or spring quarter at ASURPS and the Sustainability Research Review.
• Complete program evaluations at the mid-point and end of your research.

• All students are expected to be doing research on campus, unless they are doing field research.  Although some of the research projects could theoretically be accomplished remotely, we want the students to have the campus experience of research, including the weekly seminars and other workshops.