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Student Research, Travel & Conferences

When you undertake research, you'll most likely present your results—whether at a regional conference, a national conference in your discipline, an Honors conference, a professional meeting, a symposium, etc.

Both the North Carolina Colleges and Universities and the members of the Colonial Athletic Association sponsor annual undergraduate research symposia. In addition, students are often invited to attend honors conferences sponsored by the National Collegiate Honors Council, the Southern Regional Honors Council, and the North Carolina Honors Association.

Honors frequently arranges group travel for students to attend these conferences.

Contact us if you are interested in presenting at or attending these events. Also keep an eye on the Honors Newsletter.

Your professors and academic departments are also great sources of information to learn about conferences related to your major and research areas. Ask them about it.

Honors students are encouraged to get involved with research early. You may take an HON 191 class to learn more, begin working in a professor’s lab, or take a Directed Independent Study course.

The Center for the Support of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CSURF) works closely with Honors and supervises all undergraduate research. Their website is full of helpful pages regarding research: Opportunities for presenting research on-campus

Learn how to get involved

FYRE Program—Research as a first-year student

In Spring 2019, SURCA launched a program called the First-Year Research Experience (FYRE). First-year students can apply to the program and be matched with a faculty member conducting research in a similar area. The first-year students receive a one-hour honors course credit and a stipend for their participation, and each participant is expected to present their research findings at the CSURF Spring Showcase of Student Research and Creativity.

Applications for FYRE participation typically go out in late November. Students are notified about being selected in mid-December.

Contact Dr. Nathan Grove if you are interested in learning more about the FYRE program.

SURCA Program—Get paid to do research

The Spring and Summer Undergraduate Research and Creativity Awards (SURCA) is a program partnership of CSURF and ETEAL (Experiencing Transformative Education through Applied Learning). SURCA provides funding to support undergraduate students engaged in research, creative scholarship, or other independent academic work outside of their courses.

Any undergraduate/faculty member team can apply for a SURCA grant of up to $5,000. Frequently, this grant is used to pay student researchers an hourly wage for their research work outside of their courses. The grant can also be used for supplies.

Presenting research has the potential to bring students to conferences across the country and even the world—but such travel can be expensive. The CSURF Research and Travel Awards provide up to $1000 in assistance for undergraduates to travel to professional conferences. Students must be listed in the conference program as authors or co-authors and must have a faculty sponsor.

One of the key benefits of Honors membership is access to exclusive study abroad experiences. We have 4-5 Honors international opportunities each semester. Many of them are classes that take place on campus at UNCW but have a short-term trip, usually a week or so, before or after the semester or during spring break.

Honors Global Citizen Recognition

The Honors Global Citizen Recognition is an option for students completing University or Departmental Honors that encourages students to make global discoveries on campus and abroad. It is supported by a partnership between the Office of International Programs and the Honors College.

To qualify for this distinction, students must develop an honors project that shows active engagement with global issues, such as an increased awareness of international issues, understanding of global interdependence, or demonstration of global citizenship.

In addition, students must earn at least 6 student credit hours in a UNCW-approved education abroad program, complete at least the 202 level, or equivalent, of a foreign language with a C or better grade, complete at least one HON seminar with global content, and complete nine additional hours of 3-credit hour courses with global content with a C or better in each.

During fall break and spring break, Honors organizes domestic trips.

Fall Break Lyceum

Every fall, the cohort of first-year students has the opportunity to embark together on a fall break lyceum trip. Usually, this trip is to Washington, D.C. Students have the opportunity to see the sights, visit museums, take tours, and spend plenty of free time exploring the nation’s capital.

Spring Break

Usually, HON 121 courses offered in the spring will fulfill their “Explorations Beyond the Classroom” component by embarking on a co-curricular spring break trip. For example, the 2019 class of HON 121: Barrier Islands Ecology traveled to spend the week on Bald Head Island to put their learning into practice.

We've also taken just-for-fun trips in the past. In spring 2019, a handful of students accompanied Dr. Bingham and Dr. Grove on a week-long trip to Asheville, NC to experience the culture and enjoy the mountains.

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