UROP Student Researcher

OVERVIEW

PAY RATE: $17.70 per hour HOURS: ~10 per week

Job Summary and Essential Functions

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program is now accepting applications for Spring 2027 research grants. UROP grants hire awarded students to complete a proposed semester-long project or collaboration focused on research, scholarly, or creative activity under the guidance of a St. Thomas faculty mentor. The deadline for consideration for research to be conducted in Spring 2027 is November 2, 2026.

UROP grant recipients perform the following activities:

- Complete 100 hours of work on the proposed project/collaboration over the course of the semester, planned and scheduled in collaboration with your faculty mentor.

- Complete all necessary HR paperwork to be hired and get paid as a student employee of the university.

- Complete the Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship Training prior to beginning the research project with the understanding that if it is not completed, the grant will be forfeited in full.

- Collaborative Inquiry awardees only: Complete and submit a Collaboration Agreement with your mentor prior to the start of the fall employment term.

- Complete any required safety training relevant to your field of research within your first week of employment.

- Complete an Institutional Review Board application, if working with human subjects; submit of an existing Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee protocol number, if working with animal subjects.

- Complete a final paper/project and submit the paper to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program by the posted deadline (May 2027).

- Participate in the Inquiry Poster Session in May 2027.

- Complete a program exit survey which will be received after the poster session.

UROP selects students for this position based on the merits of their application for one of two grant programs that support mentored research, scholarly, or creative activity.

- Collaborative Inquiry Grant

- Young Scholars, Sustainability Scholars, or Community-Based Research Grant

See special instructions to submit a complete and eligible application. To advance your application, UROP must receive a separate research application appropriate to the grant for which you are applying and a mentor form from a St. Thomas faculty member as of the deadline. Job applications that are not accompanied by a complete research application and mentor form will not be considered.

Special Instructions for Applicants:

To be considered for a grant, you must submit:

- This job application with a resumé

- The research application specific to the grant for which you are applying Applicants for Young Scholars, Sustainability Scholars, or Community-Based Research Grants must upload an unofficial transcript as a part of their research application.

Your mentor must submit:

- The required mentor form specific to the grant for which you are applying. This form indicates their commitment to mentor you for the duration of the grant period if awarded. If you are working with co-mentors, both should expect to submit this form. At least one must be a St. Thomas faculty member.
- Community-Based Research Grants: your community partner should either submit an additional mentor form or provide a letter of support that you include as an appendix to your proposal.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications for Young Scholars Grants, Community-Based Research Grants, or Sustainability Scholars Grants that do not a) use the provided proposal template or b) satisfy the included word count limits will not be considered. You are NOT required to provide an additional cover letter or statement of interest in submitting the job application. Any documents or statements attached to the job application will not be reviewed.

You can expect to receive separate, automated confirmations by email when each of these three pieces of your application are fully submitted.

Completed applications will be reviewed by the Undergraduate Research Board in November. You will be notified of your status no later than the end of fall semester. Selected awardees will complete hiring and training requirements in January.

QUALIFICATIONS

To apply for this program, you must:

- Be enrolled as a degree-seeking associate’s or bachelor’s program student at the University of St. Thomas during spring 2027.

- Be eligible for student employment and able to work ~10 paid hours per week on your research project during the semester of the award.

- Sponsored by a current St. Thomas faculty member at the time of application. This faculty member commits to serve as your mentor through the semester of the award if you are selected.

Additional restrictions apply:

- You may not receive a UROP grant to support research for which you will receive course credit.

- You must be sponsored and mentored by a faculty member at the University of St. Thomas. This cannot be a project that you complete solely on your own.

- You may apply for UROP grants more than once throughout your undergraduate career; however, you may submit only one application during each round of competition and may be awarded a maximum of two semester and two summer grants during your time at St. Thomas.

- If you are not in compliance with this or any other Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (i.e., have not turned in a paper produced with the assistance of an earlier research grant as of the deadline or did not participate in a required Inquiry Poster Session), you are not eligible to receive funding under this program.

- You may not submit a proposal that requires the use of animal subjects if your faculty member does not already have an active, approved IACUC protocol for the animals in question.

Note: International students are eligible to apply. If selected for a UROP award, a student will be employed through an hourly position on campus part-time during the semester. International students preparing a grant application should discuss their employment plans with OISS to ensure that employment as a student researcher will not conflict with any student visa requirements and restrictions.

Please review the full information available at the page of the grant for which you are applying to meet any grant-specific expectations.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for student employment, St. Thomas students must be degree seeking at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. Students must be actively enrolled at least part-time in courses for credit. For further information on eligibility please see the Student Employee Toolkit on One StThomas.

The University of St. Thomas is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including

disability and protected veteran status.