CURS

Grants

The Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship offers funding twice per year (Fall and Spring) in support of faculty-led undergraduate student research, scholarship, and creative activity. Faculty and students in all academic disciplines are encouraged to submit proposals.

Funds can be used to towards travel or the purchase of materials and supplies necessary for the project. Individuals may submit one proposal (travel or materials) per seasonal round. 

See previous funded projects

Fall Grant Period: August 1-31

Spring Grant Period: January 1-31

 

Faculty

Faculty may submit an application for materials needed to conduct research or scholarly work OR an application for travel to conduct or present research or scholarly work in collaboration with one or more undergraduate students. Please review the Call for Proposals prior to submitting an application.

Restrictions:

  • Requests should not exceed $1000.
  • Faculty may not submit both a materials and travel application.
  • Unallowable expenses include, but are not limited to, publication fees, membership dues, personnel (stipends, consulting fees, technicians, etc.), participation incentives, core facility charges, etc.

Students

Undergraduate students may submit an application for travel to conduct or present research or scholarly work produced in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Groups of students attending the same conference should submit ONE proposal per trip/conference. All students (who are confident they can travel) requesting funds together should be listed on one application. Please review the Call for Proposals for guidance. Please note: Student travel grants must be student-written (a faculty mentor may review the proposal), and these submissions are weighed against other student applications.  

Restrictions:

  • Requests should not exceed $1000 for all participants on the proposal.
  • Caps may be placed on the amount of individual student funding due to state regulations. 

 

Application and Award Instructions

Application 

  1. Review the relevant CURS Grant Evaluation Rubric (Faculty/Student: Travel Rubric; Faculty: Materials Rubric)
  2. Review the Call for Proposals 2023
  3. Complete the CURS Grant Application

Please note request should not exceed $1000

Award 

  1. Upon notice of awarded proposal, the awardee must complete the Use of Funds Agreement. Failure to submit proper documentation by the communicated deadline may result in your funds being reallocated
  2. CURS Business Operations will handle all expenditures and reimbursements. All travel and reimbursements must follow the policies of AU Travel
  3. If travel is awarded, you need to acquire Travel Authorization prior to travel, and complete the appropriate Travel Expense worksheet for reimbursement after travel
  4. Complete the Faculty or Student Grant Utilization Report. Please see date in your acknowledgment letter for deadlines.

 

Please contact curs@augusta.edu if you have any questions. 

Tips for Writing a Competitive CURS Proposal

 

                      Previous Funded Projects

Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. William Bryant Communications Kolbie Dolin Silence is Golden: The Effects of Silence on the Everyday Lives of Monks
Dr. Jennifer Cannon Biological Sciences Meghan Spence and Ford Berger
Effects of Polypropylene Microparticles on human lung derived cells (A549)
Dr. Robert Cromer Biological Sciences Sarah Murray Determining the Presence of Chytrid Fungus in Augusta, GA
Dr. Dawn Langley-Brady Nursing Sciences Truc-Mi Hoang Elucidating Biological Pathways For Analgesia During Local Thermal Hyperemia
Dr. Ellen LeMosey Cellular Biology and Anatomy Daihanna Aragon and Abby Huebsch Extracellular Matrix Tinagl1 Function in Craniofacial Development
Dr. Vivian Lui Georiga Cancer Center Noah Wiese and Jasmine Afzali Genomically guided candidate-drug screening of 10 Advanced Head and Neck Patient-derived Cultures (PDCs)
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biological Sciences BIOL 4990 Investigating an Obsolete Navigational Channel in the Satilla River
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences Heer Patel Exploring the Participation of NADPH oxidase 1 in PDAC Progression through CA-19-9 level
Mr. Chadwick Tolley Art and Design Savanna Scott, Jamie Del Rosario, Maceo Thompson, and Aislin Sparrow Reimagining Literacy: The Art of Making Zines and Graphic Novels.
Dr. Almira Vazdarjanova Pharmacology and Toxicology Peyton McGuire Simulated Predator Exposure Affects Neuroinflammation and Plasticity-Related Gene Expression
Student Travel Awards Major Mentor Title of Project
Fabiha Anwar Biology Dr. Daria Ilatovskya Revealing Novel Signaling Pathways Affected in Glomeruli during Salt-Sensitive Hypertension
Taryn Lykes Kinesiology Dr. Hannah Bennett The CrossFit Culture: At the Intersection of Inclusivity and Community
Alena Pfeifer Biology Dr. Soma Mukhopadhyay Development of Alternate Visual Resources For Color Vision Deficient Individuals
       
Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Stacey Bennetts Biological Sciences   Undergraduate research presentations
Dr. Robert Cromer Biological Sciences   Determining the Presence of Chytrid Fungus in Local Water Bodies
Dr. Trinanjan Datta Chemistry and Physics   Physical and biological properties of magnets and cancer tumor growth 
Dr. Deborah Jehu Interdisciplinary Health Studies   Influence of Acute Exercise on Cognitive Performance Among Obese Adults
Dr. Vivian Lui Georgia Cancer Center   Tipifarnib Sensitivity in Head and Neck Cancer Patient Primary Cultures
Dr. Shogo Mori Chemistry and Physics   Overexpression and Purification of Enzymes in the Homologation Pathway
Mr. Raul Pacheo Art and Design   Travel to North Carolina Pottery Conference
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry and Physics   Design and Synthesis of Fluoroquinolone Conjugates as Potential Pharmacophores
Dr. Tadd Patton Psychological Sciences   The Effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Autonomic Activity in Adulthood
Dr. Surendra Pajpurohit Georiga Cancer Center   Generation and Validation of Homozygous Myl7-Annexin5/Casper Transparent Transgenic Zebrafish Cellular Phenotype for Cardiac Research
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biological Sciences   SEERS Spring 2022 Meeting
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biological Sciences   The presence of plastic-degrading bacteria along a salinity gradient
Mr. Clayton Richardson Communications   Narrative Film Production Proposal: Domestic Violence in Isolation
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences   Determination of cell proliferation rate in presence of Metformin Derivatives
Mr. Robert Saunders Music   Preparing Parallel Instrument Pedagogy Instructors
Student Travel Awards Major Mentor Title of Project
Richard Baker   Dr. Theja DeSilva APS March Meeting 2022
Teresa Davenport   Dr. Stacy Bennetts Using arbuscular mychorrihizal fungi as an alternative to traditional fertilizers
Chole Johnson Cell and Molecular Biology Dr. Paul O'Connor The Effect of Vascular Congestion on Tubular Injury in Rats
Lakshya Karnati   Dr. Jessica Reichmuth SEERS Spring 2022 Meeting
Rebekah Kimbrall   Dr. Jessica Reichmuth SEERS Spring 2022 Meeting
Ashley Koch   Dr. Jennifer Bradford Does Genetic p65 Deletion Alter Microglia Phenotype
Logan Ouellette Biology Dr. Jorge Cortes Generation and imaging of Transparent Transgenic Zebrafish for Cardio-Inflammatory Research
Ajay Pandey   Dr. Biplab Datta Child Marriage and Problems Accessing Healthcare in Adulthood
Ashton Pawl Art Mr. Raoul Pacheo Investigating the Intersection of Belonging and Biomorphic Design for BIPOC
Andrea Rivera   Dr. Stacy Bennetts Using biofertilizers to enhance traditional fertilization methods
Andrew Vincent   Dr. Theja DeSilva APS March Meeting 2022
Garrett Zillis   Dr. Theja DeSilva APS March Meeting 2022
Andrew Zimmerman   Dr. Stacy Bennetts Atypical Magnesium Requirement of a Rare Plant Species, Pediomelum piedmontanum
Matthew Zimmerman   Dr. Stacy Bennetts Atypical Magnesium Requirement of a Rare Plant Species, Pediomelum piedmontanum
Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Brian Agee Chemistry and Physics Amina Aly Investigating alternative metals for Zinc for the first step of Nylon-6,6 synthesis using green as well as conventional techniques
Dr. Jennifer Cannon Biological Sciences Meghan Spence Effects of Polypropylene Microparticles on human lung derived cells (A549)
Dr. Sangsun Choi Communications Sarah Rish, Nathaniel Walters, Chris Woods 360° Immersive Media Production about Korean immigrants in Augusta
Dr. Charlotte Christy Biological Sciences Trevor Jordan Determination of waste nutrient differences among several constructed wetland cells
Dr. Ferenc Deak Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine Emily Vu Age-Related Risk Factors of Alzheimer’s Disease: How to Repair Neuronal Networks to Prevent Dementia
Dr. Shogo Mori Chemistry and Physics Juan Reynes, Anna Parviainen, Linh Nguyen Characterization of the enzymatic homologation pathway for drug discovery
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry and Physics Radha Dobaria, Jade Moore, Anna Rocque Design, Synthesis of new quinoline based compounds as Potential Anti-viral agents for SAR-CoV2
Dr. Surendra Rajpurohit Georgia Cancer Center Karen Aikhionbare, Logan Ouellette, Kunal Hotwani Development of NF-kB/Myl7-Annexin5/Casper Transparent Transgenic Zebrafish Cellular Phenotype for Cardio-Oncology Research
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences Heer Patel Exploring the participation of NOX1 in PDAC progression through CA-19-9.
Dr. Menaka Thounaojam Ophthalmology Mindy Ho Bile Acids based therapies to treat retinopathy of prematurity in mice
Dr. Almira Vazdarjanova Pharmacology/Toxicology   Negative Emotional State Alters Episodic Memory in Female Rats
       
Student Travel Awards      
Amina Aly Biological Sciences Mentor:  Dr. Brian Agee Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
Elizabeth Barker Chemistry and Physics Mentor:  Dr. Brian Agee Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
Riley Alpuche Chemistry and Physics Mentor:  Dr. Brian Agee Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
Christina Plantz Chemistry and Physics Mentor:  Dr. Angela Spencer Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
Jade Moore Chemistry and Physics Mentor:  Dr. Siva Panda Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
Anna Rocque Chemistry and Physics Mentor:  Dr. Siva Panda Present research at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS 2021) at Birmingham, AL
       
Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Stacy Bennetts Biological Sciences Theresa Davenport, Andrea Rivera The effects of different soil remediation tactics on over-farmed soil
Dr. Madison Kindred Kinesiology Halle Prine, Raven Flicek Press Play to get active: Using podcasts to increase steps
Dr. Ellen LeMosy Cell Biology and Anatomy Helena Blackburn, Brooklyn Zwinklis A Precise Gene Editing Toolkit for Zebrafish Extracellular Matrix Biology
Dr. Surendra Rajpurohit Georgia Cancer Center Chelsea Appiah, Aminah Wood, Karen Aikhionbare Generation of Casper/Annexin5 (F05 Homozygous Progeny) Transparent Transgenic Zebrafish Strain to Study Cardiomyocyte Activity
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biological Sciences Katherine Kerce, Rebekah Kimbrell How will increased temperatures and ocean acidification affect marine crustacean behavior?
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences Souravi Mondal Validation of a CA-19-9 ELISA kit using a mouse model of pancreatic cancer
Dr. Shogo Mori Chemistry and Physics Juan Reynes, Nyjah Gee Hijack the Inactive Enzyme: a Novel Enzymatic Machinery
Dr. Yong Teng Oral Biology and Diagnostic Sciences Jakeline Juarez, Evan Crystal Circumventing Cisplatin Resistance by the Targeting of ATAD3A
Awardee Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry & Physics Queen Tran, Eyana Thomas, Margaret Wade New Class of Curcumin Hybrid Conjugates for Breast Cancer Treatment
Dr. Simon Medcalfe Business Palak Patel Racial Segregation and Racial Disparities in Covid-19 Deaths
Dr. Maleah Holland Kinesiology Lyon Ngo Intermittent Fasting in Tactical Athletes
Dr. Surendra Rajpurohit Georgia Cancer Center Chelsea Appiah, Amina Wood In-vivo Confocal imaging of newly Developed Homozygous Casper (Transparent skin)- Transgenic Zebrafish Progeny to Study Microglia Function
Dr. Brandon Cromer Biological Sciences Rhys Payne Determining the Presence of Chytrid Fungus in Augusta, GA Area Water Bodies
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences Ananya Chakraborty, Bithika Halder, Souravi Mondal Validation of a CA-19-9 ELISA kit using a mouse model of a pancreatic cancer
Dr. Chandramohan Wakade Allied Health Sneha Chauhan Combating α-synuclein induced inflammation In-vitro.
Dr. Ashwini Tiwari Institute of Public and Preventive Health Katlin Pugh Exploring a Mobile Resiliency App for at-Risk Families for Child Maltreatment seeking Pediatric Primary Care: A Qualitative Study among Pediatricians

info not available

Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Richard Topolski Psychological Sciences Chandani Patel, Nicole Morel, Karen Rex Pius Vincent Expertise and Sex Identification in Dogs
Dr. Tim Sadenwasser Honors Program Chandani Patel, Connor Owen, Danae Lawrence National Collegiate Honors Council conference
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biological Sciences Abby Bickle, Alex Coleman One fish, two fish, hopefully more fish: How an obsolete navigational channel affects fish assemblages.
Dr. Brandon Cromer Biological Sciences Rachel Hammesfahr Ecotoxicology of Yellow-Bellied Sliders (Trachemys scripta) in Natural Wetlands
Dr.  Bruce Saul Biological Sciences Samantha Hitchens Savannah River Swamp Wild Pig Scent Repellent Study
Dr. Launce Hunter Social Sciences Joshua Rutland Regime Type and Cyberconflict
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biological Sciences Ananya Chakraborty, Bithika Halder, Hisham Kashif Characterizing Nox1-evoked PaSC secretome
Dr. Brian Agee Chemistry & Physics Caroline Hammond Development of an alternative energy synthetic pathway to Nylon 6,6 Through the use of Solar Irradiation as the Sole Heat Source
Dr. Melanie O'Meara Art & Design Sabrina Nacci, Rachel Visintainer, Kayla Johnson Performing "Moving Photographs: A Vanishing Georgia" at Louisiana State University
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry & Physics Margaret Wade, Queen Tran Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Modeling Studies of Hybrid Conjugates as Potential Anti-inflammatory Agents
Dr. Jennifer Cannon Biological Sciences victoria Gaw, Manderrious Glenn The Effect of PFOA on ERα+ and ERα- Human Breast Cancer Cell Line
Dr. Valerie Williams-Hogan Physical Therapy Michelza Mitchell The Effects of an Eight Week Community Dance Class for People with Parkinson's Disease 
Dr. Nai-Cheng Kuo Teaching and Leading Zayeira Declet, Jennifer Jones, Zach Fagan Examining the Perceptions and Knowledge of Preservice and In-service Teachers about Dyslexia, the Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach, and IEP Development
Dr. Michelle Johnson Psychological Sciences Megan Bunjevac, Maye Weigle, Bari House Effects of Withholding Cell Phones on Students State Anxiety
Dr. Donna Londino Psychological Sciences Kit Jester Examining the Occurrence of Conversion Disorder Diagnoses and Autism Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the Emergency Department
Prof. Scott Thorp Art & Design Kirstyn Harris The Art and Conservation of the Federal Duck Stamp
Dr. Ahmed Chadli Biological Sciences Wayne Fang Characterization of a Novel Inhibitor (AD05) of the HSP90 Chaperoning Machine
Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Candis Bond EFL Samantha Carr, Sabrina Nacci,Barbara Card Southeastern Writing Center Association Conference Travel
Dr. Jennifer Cannon Biology victoria Gaw, Manderrious Glenn The Effect of PFOA on ERα+ and ERα- Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Dr. Trinanjan Datta Physics Gregory Price X-ray scattering study of one dimensional quantum magnets
Dr. Theja DeSilva Physics Peighton Bolt Faculty Travel to Present Student Research Findings at Annual American Physical Society's March Meeting
Dr. Andy Hauger Physics Anish Sangari, Nitish Sood Design and Testing a Low-cost Real-time Feedback CPR Manikin
Dr. Vahe Heboyan Interdisc. Health Sciences Kelsey LeBlanc Development and Pilot Testing of E-Cigarette Public Service Announcements (PSAs): Influence of Economic/Health and Informational/Emotional Message Appeals on College-aged U.S. Adults
Dr. Ellen LeMosy Cellular Biology Aashi Kalra, Brooklyn Zwinklis Gene editing to probe extracellular matrix (ECM) function in zebrafish heart and spinal cord development
Dr. Laurence Miller Psyc Sarah McPherson Travel to 2019 meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Dr. Melanie O'Meara Comm Sabrina Nacci, Rachel Visintainer, Kayla Johnson Moving Photographs: A Vanishing Georgia
Dr. Raoul Pacheco Art Brooke Farmer, Ellen Griffin, TK Lee Exploring an Introduction to 3-D Printing Presentation
Dr. Siva Panda Chem William Littlefield Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Modeling Studies of Pyrazinoic acid-Isoniazid Hybrid Conjugates as Potential Anti-infective Agents
Dr. Jessica Reichmuth Biology Laren Wheeler, Rebecca Patterson Sediment grain size analysis in the Biological Sciences
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biology Ananya Chakraborty, Catalina Godoy Recognizing the role of Nox1 in isolated pancreatic stellate cells from mice with chronic pancreatitis.
Dr. Tim Sadenwasser Honors Grant Blume, Jasmine Brickhouse, Deanna Doughty Southern Regional Honors Council conference
Dr. Bruce Saul Biology Samantha Hitchens Savannah River Feral Pig Repellent Study
Dr. Jenelle Slavin-Mulford Psyc Sam Kunkel, Summar Smith Predicting Psychotherapy Outcomes Based on Therapists’ Personal Characteristics
Dr. Angie Spencer Chem Alisha Nam, Elizabeth Adams Development of a high throughput screen for GPCR signaling
Dr. Rick Topolski Psyc Kiana Ladson, Leslie Epsey Dating Behaviors within Social Circles
Dr. Almira Vazdarjanova Pharma/Tox Rohan Mandavilli, Rachel Dixon Sex differences in the number of GABAergic neurons in rats with a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-like phenotype
Dr. Donna Wear Biology Sheena Mondeddu Guidelines for Healthy Food Production in an Urban Brownfield
Faculty Mentor Department Student(s) Title of Project
Dr. Charlotte Christy Biology Benjamin Overlie, William Saunders-Cumming Using the ycf1 gene to investigate the Ladies' Tresses Orchids of AU's Summerville Campus
Dr. Robert Comer Biology Eric Frazier, Samantha Hitchens Measuring The Influence Of The Traffic Noise On Songbird Vocalizations
Dr. Josefa Guerrero-Millan Chemistry Benjamin Overlie, William Saunders-Cumming Controlling and predicting the smallest drop size in electro co-flow
Dr. Angelia Holland Chemistry Persiah Shipley, Constantine Katsoudas, Edward Maner Accuracy of current techniques in quantifying ketone levels
Dr. Lance Hunter POLS Thomas Warren Internet Connectivity and Terrorism
Dr. Nevin Lambert Pharmacology/Toxicology Kush Patel Fluorescent labeling of the nanoluciferase fragment LgBit
Dr. Dawn Langley-Bradey PTN Brenda Nelson, Michael Jones-Asgil Essential Oils Effect on Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) in Breast Cancer: A Mixed Methods Study
Dr. Laurence Miller Psychology Eric Frazier, Laura Marshall Examining the impact of pain on novel odor recognition in mice
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry Hitesh Honkanadavar, William Littlefield Fluoroquinolone Hybrid Conjugates as Potential Pharmacophores
Dr. Siva Panda Chemistry Hitesh Honkanadavar, William Littlefield Participation in The 70th Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society 2018, Augusta, GA
Dr. Stacie Pettit Teaching/Leading amanda Woods, Lauren Todd, Macy Gentile National Conference Student Presentations
Dr. Efrain Riveros-Perez Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Nicole Varela Performance of CO2 changes to predict fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing volunteers
Dr. Maria Sabbatini Biology Catalina Godoy, Ananya Chakraborty Recognizing the role of Nox1 in isolated pancreatic stellate cells from mice
Dr. Tim Sadenwasser Honors Deanna Doughty, Hitesh Honkanadaver, Simran Mehrotra National Collegiate Honors Council conference
Dr. Angie Spencer Chemistry Alisha Nam, Dalia Saj, Amy Trang Profiling G protein coupled receptor interactions with G proteins using BRET
Dr. Yong Teng Oral Biology Parth Thakkar, Reeya Patel, Tiffany Lam Development a Novel Nanoparticle-based Treatment for Breast Cancer
Dr. Almira Vazdarjanova Pharmacology/Toxicology tbd Revealing sex differences in susceptibility to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in an animal model

Spring Grant awards 2014

Faculty Dept Title
Abdulovic-Cui, Amy Biology Investigating the in-vivo role of Hcb 1 in Nonhomologous end-joining
Armstrong, Rhonda EFL Travel to Sigma Tau Delta Convention in Savannah
Bates, Christopher Biology Identification of Bacteria from biofilms from the surface of marine fishes
Cannon, Jennifer Biology 1. Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid on gene expression in mL TC-1 Leydig cells
2. Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid on gene expression in MCF-7 Breast Cancer
3. Endocrine disruption of marine benthic crustaceans
Cromer, Brandon Biology Monitoring of Hatching Turtle Dispersal Through Radiotelemetry
Datta, Trinanjan Chemistry & Physics Distortions in 2p4d Partial Fluorescence yield for 4d elements
Davies, Kim; Reese, Bill; and Powell-Williams, Melissa Sociology SEUSS Undergraduate Sociology Symposium
Drews, Marie EFL Southeastern Women's Studies Association Conference
Dunn, Brian Biology Deletion of purative transcription factors in the yeast Pichia pastoris
Elsalanty, Mohammed Oral Biology Bacterial Colonization following Dental Extraction in Rats Receiving Long-Term Bisphosphonate Therapy
Hoffman, Todd EFL Presentations for the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University
Klug, Christopher Chemistry & Physics Coordination Chemistry of Lanthanids in Ionic Liquids
Medcalfe, Simon Hull College of Business Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
Sabbatini, Maria Biology Identify which Adenylyl Cyclase is implicated in the proliferation and differentiation of pancreatic cancer
Saul, Bruce Biology Genetic Identification of Longnose Gar Populations Using Microsatellites in Estuarina verses Freshwater Environments
Sexton, Joanne Hull College of Business Inertial Measurement for Indoor Location Positioning
Spencer, Angela Chemistry & Physics Development of DNA aptamers using SELEX
Tugmon, Cathy Biology Identification and Antibiotic Sensitivity of Bacteria Found on and in Spiders of the CSRA
Wear, Donna; Pukis, Rick Biology & Communications Phenology of a temporal, natural wetland