The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Scholars Certificate Program is a year-long program that enhances the research skills of undergraduate students and provides them with the necessary knowledge and tools to be research ready.

All current and enrolled 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ undergraduate students are eligible for considerations.

Students are required to submit the following as part of their application package:

  1. One-page personal statement describing your interest in (and expectations from) the program, general research interests, career aspirations and goals, and why you are applying. For instructions, please peruse OUR’s one-page personal statement sample.
  2. Curriculum Vitae (CV). For instructions, please view the following samples:

Awardees are expected to meet the requirements listed below:

  • to learn how to get involved with faculty-supervised research (including classroom-based research) and identify a research position
  • Attend a minimum of 8 OUR Research Skills Academy workshops over the course of the academic year: 4 in Fall, 4 in Spring or Summer (including the following 4 mandatory workshops: (1) What is Research? Understanding the Research Cycle, (2) Active Reading: How to Effectively Interrogate Text, (3) Abstract Writing, and (4a) Human Subjects and IRB Training or (4b) All Things Lab Safety)
  • Submit a funding application, such as Travel Support Funding, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Poster Printing Support Funding, and/or NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): Mechanisms of Evolution.
  • Present and volunteer at one of OUR’s triannual research symposia

Participants are expected to submit the following upon completion of all program requirements:

  • Proof of research advising
  • Proof of workshop attendance
  • Proof of funding application
  • Proof of Symposium presentation

Frequently Asked Questions

  • OUR offers mandatory workshops as part of our Research Skills Academy every semester, including summer.

  • OUR posts the Research Skills Academy workshops for the subsequent semester two weeks prior to the start of the semester.

  • OUR offers the selected mandatory workshops each semester. You may elect to wait until the next offering date. Alternatively, you may request to complete an online version of the workshop by emailing our@unlv.edu.

  • OUR will allow students to retrospectively apply attended workshops towards their 8 workshop requirement provided the attendance occurred in the previous semester.

  • Although we recommend students to attend OUR workshops using their desktops, laptops, or tablets, students may also dial in. If students elect this access type, then it is up to the student to email OUR a confirmation of their attendance along with the last two digits of the phone number used in dialing.