The CURO Research Mentoring Award recognizes outstanding faculty who consistently engage undergraduates through CURO programming (such as courses, the Symposium, summer fellows, theses, and so on) and enhance the learning experience of undergraduate researchers at the University of Georgia.

CURO presents two mentoring awards each year. Recipients are recognized during the keynote session of the annual CURO Symposium, held in April.

Award recipients receive $750 to provide further support for mentoring undergraduate research endeavors.

A list of past recipients is available on our Mentoring Award Recipients page.

Eligibility

  • Any UGA faculty member who is currently mentoring a UGA undergraduate researcher
  • Previous winners are not eligible for five years from the date of last award
  • Nomination can come from current or former students, deans, directors, and/or department heads. Self-nominations are also accepted. See more below

Nomination process

Current or former students, a dean, director, and/or department head can nominate outstanding faculty from their departments and research units who demonstrate superior undergraduate research mentorship.

They must submit the faculty member’s full name, home department/college, and contact information to CURO ([email protected]) with the subject line “CURO Faculty Mentoring Award Nomination.”

CURO will then contact the nominated faculty members to gather additional materials.

Faculty research mentors may also nominate themselves.

  • Nomination period: November 1, 2023 – February 1, 2024
  • Application deadline (to ensure nominees have time to submit a complete application): March 1, 2024

Application materials

All application materials will be submitted via an InfoReady link that will be emailed to the nominee. The nominee will be asked to upload:

  • A cover letter explaining their interest in collaborating with undergraduate students on research issues (i.e., what are the advantages to mentoring undergraduates). This letter should include the faculty member’s full name, home department / college, and contact information
  • A list of the undergraduate students that the faculty member has mentored through CURO coursework, funded opportunities, the annual CURO Symposium, conference presentations, and/or publications. Whenever possible, please indicate the outcomes / professional impact of this work on the student
  • The contact information for 2-3 current or former students, who will write letters of support. These can include current and/or past students that the faculty member mentored in research through CURO coursework or its programming

Review and selection

An awards committee will review the nomination portfolios. The committee looks for:

  • Evidence of achievement and success in outstanding mentoring and teaching
  • Supervision of CURO research courses (4960R, 4970R, 4980R)
  • Direction of CURO theses
  • Collaboration on publications
  • Student presentations at the CURO Symposium or professional conferences

The committee will notify award recipients in mid-March.