Proposals for Lamar University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship are due Feb. 23.
The program offers undergraduates up to $6,000 in funding to conduct independent research during the summer.
The program, offered through the Office of Undergraduate Research, provides selected students with funding to conduct research under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
E.J. McMillen, administrative assistant for the Office of Undergraduate Research, said SURF is designed to help students explore their academic interests beyond the classroom.
“It is just one of the various opportunities that the OUR provides to our undergraduate students here at Lamar to help support and facilitate any independent research projects that students want to do,” he said.
Students selected will have multiple options for funding. These include a $2,700 student stipend, up to $1,400 for research supplies, $500 for travel reimbursement and $1,400 for on-campus housing in Cardinal Village during the summer sessions, McMillen said.
Carolina Hernandez, senior American Sign Language interpreting major, said the program allowed her to research a topic that was both academically and personally meaningful.
“I myself am a Hispanic, Latina sign language interpreter, and I experience a lot of hardships and struggles,” Hernandez said.
Her project studied the experiences of Hispanic and Latino sign language interpreters working in the field.
“Through this research, I wanted to make our voices a little bit louder.” she said.
Hernandez’s project used qualitative interviews to explore challenges faced by Latino interpreters, including issues of representation and professional barriers. She said one of the biggest challenges was recruiting participants who had time to commit to interviews.
“The coding process was actually much longer than I expected,” she said. “But it helped me understand the data in a deeper way.”
Hernandez used her SURF funding to attend the Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf conference, where she networked with professionals and recruited participants for her study.
“That conference really helped my research grow,” she said. “I met so many interpreters, especially Hispanic and Latino interpreters, and it helped me collect more information.”
Hernandez credited her faculty mentors with helping her navigate the research process.
“They weren’t just holding my hand,” Hernandez said. “They guided me, encouraged me and helped me understand how to actually do research.”
McMillen said seeing students develop their projects is one of the most rewarding parts of the program.
“We had a full 15 projects last year,” McMillen said. “It was really great to see those projects develop, and I’m looking forward to potentially having another full cohort.”
Students interested in applying for SURF can find eligibility requirements and proposal guidelines at lamar.edu/our.