Funding & Eligibility

Stipends, Housing Supplements, Supplies, and Travel

Students interested in engaging in a research project should contact the faculty member directly. After you decide you’d like to work together, you have several options:

UROP provides research stipends, on a competitive basis, each semester and summer. Research projects may also be done on a volunteer basis, for academic credit, or for pay.

Funding Eligibility

Any undergraduate student enrolled full-time at Boston University is eligible to apply for UROP funding. All projects must be conducted under the supervision of a BU faculty member. A student may not simultaneously receive academic credit and a UROP stipend award for their research. Students on a leave of absence are not eligible to apply for funding. Students who have previously received UROP funding are welcome to apply, but students cannot receive funding more than three times. Students who have received funding 3 times cannot reapply.

Students graduating in May are not eligible for funding the summer after graduation.

Summer 2024:

International students must be working in the US to receive stipend funding.
A maximum of up to two students may be funded per faculty mentor per semester.

Types of Funding

Stipend Awards: paid directly to the student as taxable income; the hourly rate will reflect the current state minimum wage
Supplies Awards: provided to the mentor’s department to cover project supplies
Travel Awards: reimbursement for research- or conference-related travel expenses
Humanities, Arts & Preprofessional (HAP) Scholars Awards: stipend and supplies for students conducting research in the Humanities, Arts, and Preprofessional programs
Housing Supplement: Up to $1000 toward summer housing, limited number of supplements available for students with the greatest financial need

Stipend Awards

Student Research Award (SRA): full amount provided by UROP
Fall or Spring Semester: Up to $1,500 for 10 hours per week
Summer: $6,000 for 40 hours per week for a 10-week program.

Faculty Matching Grants (FMG): half provided by UROP, half by the faculty mentor
Fall or Spring Semester: Up to $1,500 for 10 hours per week
Summer: $6,000 for 40 hours per week for a 10-week program.

Students may apply for different stipend amounts based on the approximate number of hours to be worked per week*:

Fall or Spring Semester:

5 hours = $750
8 hours = $1,200
10 hours = $1,500

Summer:

20 hours = $3,000
30 hours = $4,500
40 hours = $6,000

*While the award is for the semester or summer, it is paid in weekly installments over a 10 week period.

Notes on Stipend Working Hours Stipulations

UROP stipend payments are paid as weekly salaried payments through Student Employment.
Students are not eligible to work more than 20 hours/week during the academic year and 40 hours/week during the summer across on-campus jobs.
Students cannot receive double payment for working the same job. For example, if you work 10 hours/week during the academic year for a UROP stipend, you cannot be paid with work-study or departmental funds for the same 10 hours. However, if you work 10 hours/week during the academic year for a UROP stipend and an additional 10 hours on another job or on the same research project, you may be eligible to receive payment from work-study funding or departmental for the additional hours worked under the hourly guidelines listed above.
All non-UROP funding sources used to support your research project need to be discussed with your mentor.
Any summer-funded UROP students working another job on campus must report this in their award acceptance paperwork.
If you have questions about receiving UROP funding while working another job on campus, please contact the office to discuss this further.

Supplies Awards

Effective 2/1/2024: Travel and supplies applications are on hold until further notice.

Awards are no more than $600. You cannot apply for supplies funding and stipend funding during the same funding period. You must choose either a supplies award or a stipend award, not both. If you are receiving academic credit for your research, you cannot apply for a stipend, but you can apply for supplies. Students may not receive more than one supplies award per academic year.

These awards are granted on a rolling basis. Students may not receive more than one supplies award per academic year. Funds are transferred directly to the faculty mentor’s department.

Travel Awards