ORCA Grant

What is an ORCA Student Mentoring Grant?

BYU's Office of Research & Creative Activities (ORCA) offers $1,500 grants to help undergraduate students work with faculty in a one-on-one mentoring setting. Grants are only awarded annually and proposals for the 2017-2018 academic year are due Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:59 PM MST.

Students may use an ORCA Grant for anything they wish. Some use the funds to reimburse time, supplies, and/or other expenses involved with conducting an academic project. Students may either design their own project or work on a professor's ongoing research. All students must work with a mentor.

How to apply for the ORCA Student Mentoring Grant

  1. Find out if you are eligible

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  2. Decide on a project

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    • We fund research and creative based projects all across campus. Whether you are a Dance major choreographing a ballet based on Russian technique or a Neuroscience major researching the effects of dopamine on the brain, we can fund you!
    • Look at examples of projects students have done in the past:
      Journal of Undergraduate Research

  3. Get a Mentor

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    • Your mentor must be a full-time tenure track faculty member at BYU.
    • If you are looking for a mentor in a specific field, look to college websites that list professors and their areas of study here.
    • Talk to the person you would like to be your mentor as soon as possible as they are only permitted to mentor 3 applications per year. If they are willing to be your mentor they will be able to help you fully develop your project idea.

  4. Attend one of the Grant Writing Workshops

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    • Come to any 1 of the 4 sessions to help you prepare for writing your ORCA Grant Proposal. Each session is held in the Varsity Theater in the WSC.
      • The workshops have past. You can view the slides and past workshops here.

  5. Write and submit your proposal

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    • The proposal needs to be 2 pages and submitted as a PDF
    • The format is found in this template
    • Make sure you review the proposal with your mentor
    • When your proposal is finalized fill out the application where you will submit your proposal as a PDF file
    • The submission deadline is Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:59 pm. No late applications will be accepted. NO EXCEPTIONS.
    • Please submit your application well in advance in order to avoid any technical issues.

  6. What to do if awarded

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