Eligibility for funding
- Must be enrolled as a full-time LSU undergraduate if applying for spring/fall funding
- Must be enrolled as full-time in the following fall if applying for summer funding
- Must have an LSU faculty mentor (an alternate LSU full-time employed staff member
may serve as the day-to-day supervisor)
- Must have a minimum 2.5 college GPA
- Must be in good standing with the university
- Must have completed at least 24 credits of college coursework at the time the application
is submitted
Restrictions
- Students can receive a maximum of $3,000 for the academic year (fall and spring) or
$6,000 for the summer semester.
- Students cannot receive more than one Project Grant
- We cannot fund student projects that are part of a course or are for course credit
(e.g., Thesis, Independent Study, Special Problems, etc.)
- Students cannot earn wages from both LSU Discover and another funding source for the
same hours worked on a project
- Limited to one student per faculty mentor per semester, unless the students apply
as a group
- Student may not work more than 20 hours per week combined with other student worker
jobs during the fall and spring semesters; students working in the summer may work
up to 40 hours a week as long as they are not enrolled in any summer courses.
- Summer funding is divided between two periods: $3,000 is available up until June 30th,
and an additional $3,000 is available for the remainder of the summer semester.
- For students requesting funding for supplies: please be aware that some restrictions
may apply depending on the type of supplies requested
- Funding expires the last day of classes of the funded semester
Funding for Groups
- Groups of up to 3 students who each meet the eligibility requirements can apply to
split one research grant.
- Groups should submit one application using the Group Application Form.
- If a group is funded, each student must complete all of the Recipient Responsibilities
outlined below by the due dates.
- The group must have only one supervisor (an LSU employed faculty or staff member)
who is responsible for submitting each student’s bi-weekly time sheets.
- The faculty mentor should submit a separate recommendation form for each student in
the group.
- The faculty mentor must fill out the assessment form for each student in the group.
Links to online application forms
If you are having issues with any of these online forms, please submit all of your
application documents and information to lsudiscover@lsu.edu
Application Components
*To be loaded to online application form (all documents loaded into the application
should have your name on at least the first page of each document)
Note: Your entire application will be scored by the selection committee using the
Project Grant application scoring rubric
A word about the personal statement: There are no specific instructions for the personal statement so you are free to concentrate
on any aspect of your life that you feel is relevant. This is your opportunity to
share anything about yourself with the judges that might convince them that you are
an excellent candidate for the funding. For example, you could discuss how this project
contributes to your future goals (graduate school or workforce). You may want to
explain how your previous educational and research experiences have prepared you for
this project. Or you may want to explain any financial hardships that could be alleviated
by the grant. You could even discuss all of these things. There’s no “right way”
to write the personal essay for this grant. The personal statement is not scored
but gives the judges a better sense of who you are as a student researcher beyond
your project proposal and transcript.
You must attach a project proposal to your online application. Your entire proposal
must be reviewed and approved by your faculty mentor before submitting your application.
Proposal Style:
Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1-inch margins, full name on right corner header of
each page, and double-spaced. Can be uploaded as a Word Doc or PDF.
Required Elements of the Project Proposal:
- Cover Page
- Title
- Student full name
- Student major
- Semester in which research will be conducted
- Name, title, and department of faculty mentor(s)
- Project Narrative (500 - 1500 word count)
- Provide a description of the project using the following outline. Remember to write
your proposal so that even a non-specialist can understand the purpose of your research.
- Introduction – This section should provide the justification for the proposed project.
You should explain how your research contributes to the broader context of your discipline.
- Goals, Objectives, Hypothesis or Study Question – This section should discuss what
you plan to accomplish.
- Methods – Describe how you plan to collect and analyze your data.
- Budget Justification and Resources – In this section, you must explain your budget
requests (hourly wages, supplies, etc.). Also, you should explain what, if any, supplies,
software, equipment, lab space, or other resources will be provided by other funding
sources (such as your mentor or with other funding).
- Broader Impacts – Briefly discuss
- The impact or benefit of your project on your discipline
- The impact or benefit of your project on society
- Literature Cited
- You must include citations to support your project narrative. Use whichever citation
style is expected in your discipline.
- Research Oversight and IRB (for Research with Human Subjects)
-
All projects which involve human subjects must be submitted to the LSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval or exemption. This includes projects in which humans will be experimented
on, interviewed, surveyed, etc. In no case may a project with human subjects begin
before written exemption or written IRB approval is received. Faculty mentors will
need to submit the forms on behalf of their student mentee(s).
Click here to visit the Institutional Review Board website to learn more about research involving human subjects.
- When submitting your application for the LSU Discover Project Grant, include your
approval or exemption letter from IRB. If you are still awaiting a decision from
IRB, you may include a copy of the email which confirms that the forms have been submitted.
- Budget
- Provide a budget summary spreadsheet using the appropriate budget template.
Note: Your proposal will be scored using this scoring rubric: Project Grant Scoring Rubric
Recommendation: Your proposal will also be scored on the quality of the writing so
we recommend that you make an appointment with CxC to review your proposal before
submitting. Schedule an appointment with CxC.
- Application is reviewed by an LSU Discover staff member for completeness.
- Completed applications are sent to LSU faculty judges for review. Each proposal is
reviewed by 2-3 faculty members, at least one with expertise in the student’s discipline
and one from our Faculty Advisory Board. Judges will remain anonymous.
- Each faculty judge uses the Research Grant application scoring rubric to evaluate the student application.
- Around 4-6 weeks after the application deadline, all student applicants will be notified.
- Students whose applications have been accepted must reply to our emails in a timely
fashion.
