The Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences program (SURE) at Elon University assists dozens of students each year by providing stipends to students and faculty collaborating on intensive research projects. In previous years, the deadline for applications for SURE was set for the spring semester, around the time of spring break. This year, the deadline has been pushed up several months to Dec. 6, to help students and their faculty mentors better prepare for research.
"If they know they have a firm commitment for the summer, many of the projects will actually begin the foundational work throughout the spring semester, therefore they'll be able to better utilize the summertime for intensive work," said Paul Miller, professor of exercise science and director of SURE.
The deadline change was prompted by faculty mentors who expressed interest in having more time to organize research plans, Miller said.
The program is open to all students with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and involves spending eight weeks on campus working full-time on the proposed project, with the condition of presenting the research at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF). Participating students receive a stipend of $3,000.
"That's actually how faculty and scholars do their research more often," said Tim Peeples, associate provost for Faculty Affairs. "It's not find out and then a month later you're jumping into it. It's you find out, you find out you're funded and you get ready to do your work and you do your work. So it matches a more realistic rhythm of scholarly activity."
Many students who apply for SURE apply for other research opportunities as well, Miller said, and having the advanced notice of acceptance that a fall deadline would provide allows them to make better-informed decisions about other opportunities, such as internships.
"This does help align some of the deadlines so the students can be more informed when they make a decision on what they're going to do," Miller said. "What's going to suit them better, rather than making a decision because they have to tell someone something."
The program has grown extensively since its creation and had about 70 applications last year for 40 spaces, Miller said. This year, about as many spaces will be offered.
"My guess is we'll have more applications," Peeples said. "People will not yet know what they're doing in their next summer, so they'll look at this as a possible opportunity whereas in the spring some decisions will already have been made and they may not even be ones that considered the possibility of SURE."