Research Experience for Undergraduates

Dean’s Scholars Program

Students identify a research interest, prepare a proposal, and obtain the support of a faculty mentor. The proposal will detail research that will be conducted by the student with a faculty mentor. A faculty committee will select the best proposals to receive the fellowships. Examples of fundable projects include:

• Conducting a study requiring travel during spring break and into the summer to interview managers with a focus on how managers use information for decision making. The Dean’s Scholars program would fund travel and related expenses for the student.
• Performing a lab experiment to examine how teams respond to a change in their work. After designing the experiment, the student would run the experiment. The Dean’s Scholars program would fund the project and compensate the subjects, if appropriate.
• Development a simulation to model a financial concept. The Dean’s Scholars program would fund purchase of software and training on the software.
• Conducting an in-depth organizational analysis and prepare a case study based on that research. The Dean’s Scholars program would fund travel or telephone expenses for interviews.

Undergraduates participating in a Dean’s Scholar REU Program participate in all phases of the research: developing research plans, writing proposals, conducting the actual research, analyzing data and presenting results. Outcomes may include presenting their research at a research symposium for the business school, presenting the research at an appropriate conference, and/or submitting a paper for publication in a journal. The total funding available for each project is $7,500 ($5,000 for student and $2,500 for faculty mentor). Depending on the nature of the project and the agreement with the faculty member, students may receive course credit for their project although this option is not required.

Faculty members are encouraged to identify students who would be good candidates for this program and encourage the students to apply. The funds for the faculty member can be used as a salary or to fund professional development opportunities.

Dean's Scholars Program Application

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Undergraduate Research Assistants

Faculty members submit descriptions of research projects for which they seek assistance. If approved for funding, the research project description and student qualifications will be posted on the GWSB REU web site. Students apply directly to the faculty member to work on a project of interest, and the faculty member selects the student from those who apply. Students will receive an hourly wage for working for the faculty member, based on amount of time worked and nature of the work.

The duties of the student must be definable and substantive rather than menial. Examples of tasks might include running statistical analyses, interviewing respondents, administering questionnaires, collecting data, or conducting library research. When submitting the proposal, the faculty member must identify the nature of the research, the expectations for the students, and the expected dissemination of that research (e.g., journal article, conference presentation). Students should be encouraged to participate in the dissemination of the research, perhaps participating in a GWSB research symposium to present the work. Students involved in these projects may not receive course credit.

Undergraduate Research Assistants Application

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Case Competitions

The REU initiative also supports undergraduate student participation in case competitions. The case competition must require extensive research as part of the preparation process for the competition. Research can range from traditional academic research to in-depth company analyses. The team must be sponsored by a GWSB faculty member. Funding will be provided to support preparation for and travel to the case competition, but will not pay for the full costs. To apply for funding, the student team and faculty sponsor should submit an application for funding.

 Case Competitions Application

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Eligibility, deliverables, and deadline information are included on the application.