A professor and two students wearing lab coats, safety googles, and gloves hold beakers in a science lab

These grants provide funding for consumable research supplies for students’ independent study projects or comps research. Supplies for art, video, and performance projects, oral history, compensation for research participants, and educational outreach in the local community may also be funded.

ASP Grant Funding, Eligibility, Requirements

Funds will be awarded to Oxy students on a competitive basis. Each student is limited to one ASP grant per academic year.

Grants are limited to a max of $300 per project. The ASP grant is not intended to be the sole support for any project. 

  • Funds for supplies are to be used for consumable supplies. In short, if the item will remain usable at the end of the project, it is not an appropriate item for purchase with ASP funding. Exceptions can be made, but generally only for specialized items which are of use only for the specific project under consideration.
  • The ASP Grant will generally not provide funds for office supplies or equipment, including computers, personal printers, ink cartridges, computer memory, disk drives, and camera equipment. When exceptions are made, it is typically with the understanding that ownership of the items will be retained by the College, with provision for the widest appropriate access by students.
  • In addition to supplies, local travel costs to collect data for research, conduct interviews, etc. can be supported. This is presumed to include only mileage and parking costs or public transportation and to be limited to the Los Angeles Basin. Please use the current IRS guidelines for mileage reimbursement—2024 rate: 67 cents/mile.
  • Printing costs are not usually covered unless they are essential for the project. For DOCS printing services such as a conference poster, contact the URC. Prior URC approval is necessary for DOCS printing.
  • If an exception to these policies is requested, students should clearly explain the reasons for the exception, and the mentor should also address the exception in the mentor support form.

Refer to the URC Reimbursement & Funding Information for details on the URC's policies and
eligible funding requests.

Students applying for support need to take ownership of their projects and any secondary requirements, such as IRB approval, are the responsibility of the student who proposed the project.

Funds will not be released until all application requirements are met, and student accounts may be charged back for the full amount of the award unless all final reporting requirements are met.

Applications

Complete the Google form application. At the end of the form, you will need to upload your application packet merged as a single PDF file, saved as LastName, FirstName_ASP.pdf, in this order:

  • Project Description: (Limited to two pages, written by the applicant.) The project description must begin with a clear, one-sentence research question or project goal that you expect to address throughout your project. This should be followed by an elaboration of the project, a discussion of its importance, an explanation of the methodology you expect to use, a review of prior investigations by you or others, and literature citations where appropriate (for tables, figures, and quotes). 
  • Personal Statement: (Limited to two pages, written by the applicant.) The personal statement should describe prior work that prepares the student for the proposed project and the importance of the proposed activity to the student's intellectual or professional development.
  • Itemized Budget: (prepared by the applicant.) Use the URC ASP Budget form to provide a detailed list of all project costs. The fillable PDF form is available for download. Note: Budgets should reflect the total cost of the project and funding expected from other sources should be listed.
  • Mentors: Must complete the Mentor Support Form by the deadline.

Deadlines

Fall 2024:

September 24

October 22

Final report due December 13, 2024

Spring 2025:

December 10

February 11

Final report due May 9, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

All ASP's are due by 5:00 PM local time on the specified due date.

Contact Undergraduate Research Center
Library

2nd floor, Old Wing, Room 253A