OVPR OUR Undergraduate Research Awards

Thank you for participating in the FY 2026 Undergraduate Research Award program sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) through the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR).

The guiding principle of these awards is that the funding is to follow the undergraduate researcher – i.e., the awards are solely to support the undergraduate researcher’s activities. During their time at UK, individual undergraduate researchers receive no more than one academic-year research award, one travel award, and one summer research award (or some combination thereof), unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise. For the latter, please contact OUR to discuss the situation.

While the Colleges have discretion on how the funds are spent, OUR has established allowable expenditure guidelines as follows.

Reporting Deadlines for 2025 - 2026

Fall 2025 Semester: December 19, 2025
Spring 2026 Semester: May 8, 2026
Summer 2026 Term: August 7, 2026

Approved & Non-Approved Use of Award Funds

Examples of allowable use of the award funds

Student stipend
Registration and travel expenses (e.g., airfare, mileage, lodging, meals) to a meeting for the undergraduate researcher to present their work
Travel expenses required for the undergraduate researcher’s project (e.g., airfare, mileage, lodging, meals)
Supplies explicitly needed for the undergraduate researcher’s project

Note: For supplies, no more than 10% of the award allocation can be used for supplies unless express permission is received from OUR. The award funds are not intended to be a mechanism to fund the research activities of the mentor.

Funds for food or events
Funds to support stipends, supplies, etc. for course-based research activities (e.g., 395 course participation)
Purchase of equipment
Tuition
Items deemed to be discretionary in the BPM

Student Award Payment Options

OUR recommends that funding be made through both Payment Request Document (PRD) and Payments on Behalf of Students (PBS) forms. If the award is $50 or more, the PRD must contain the name of the award (VPR Undergraduate Research Student Award), the award reference code (VPR-1), and a description of the criteria the College used to select the student.

Recall that no carry-over will be available, and any FY 2026 funds not spent by June 30, 2026, will be pulled back from the account when new funds for FY 20267 are made available.

We strongly encourage co-funding of undergraduates whose research crosses disciplines and Colleges.

Students are not to receive double funding for the same work from different Colleges. Hence, undergraduate researchers are allowed to submit one proposal to only one College for a given allowable expense as defined above, and it is up to the Colleges to determine if co-funding is a reasonable course to follow.

We will continue to engage the Colleges to determine mechanisms to make this process easier for the students and Colleges alike.

The UK Work-Study Research Assistant Program (WRAP) is designed to help federal work-study (FWS) eligible students develop research skills and explore their academic interests. Research and creative scholarship experiences develop transferable skills and can change the course of a student’s academic and/or professional career. Our expectation is that the research assistant will be substantively engaged in a faculty member’s research and creative endeavors.

Work-study and the university will pay 100% of the student’s wages - Work-study pays 75% with the remaining 25% coming from other funding sources (e.g. OUR Awards, faculty funds, College/departmental funds).

Learn More

https://our.uky.edu/funding/uk-work-study-research-assistant-program

Award Account Reconciliation

FY 2026 Award Reconciliation Deadlines

Fall 2025 Semester: December 19, 2025
Spring 2026 Semester: May 8, 2026
Summer 2026 Term: August 7, 2026

2025-26 OVPR-OUR Account Reconciliation Form

Submit FY2026 Reconciliation Form

OVPR-OUR Award Funding Process and Required Reporting

Pre-Award requirements: Complete ForagerOne profile and Pre-Award Metrics form

Post-Award requirements: 3 data collection actions, each submitted via webform, are required for every undergraduate research award

Long-term requirement: student and mentor questionnaires are required by the respective undergraduate researcher and mentor

Go to ForagerOne

Undergraduate students and faculty mentors must have a completed ForagerOne profile prior to receiving OVPR-OUR Undergraduate Research Award funds.

Per the OVPR, a complete ForagerOne profile includes:

Basic information
Profile picture
About section
Research keywords

Everyone with a linkblue ID can access ForagerOne

Go to Pre-Award Metrics Form

A Pre-Award Metrics Form must be completed for EVERY student before students receive any funding or notification.

You will receive either an Approval or Request for More Information email from OUR.

A College representative or business officer must submit the requested information about each scholar and mentor before award processing.

Go to OUR Scholar Final Report

Undergraduates receiving OVPR-OUR Award funding must submit a Scholar Final Report

UK ID & email address
A 500 to 1,000 word report describing the research activities and outcomes and how funds were spent
Qualitative and quantitative descriptors of the research experience

Go to Student Post-Travel Form

Students receiving research travel support are required to submit this survey within 5 DAYS of their return. Travel funding includes conference travel and travel to conduct research.

Go to OUR Mentor Report

Mentors supporting undergraduates receiving OVPR-OUR Award funding must submit an OUR Mentor Report