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STUDENT AND EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL UPDATE
GSA Undergraduate Student

Research Funding Survey Results

GSA Student Advisory Council: Yueyi Che, Chair-Elect; 6. Despite all the challenges undergraduate students face, 62.9% of
Rebecca Taormina, Chair; Alexandra Nagurney, Past-Chair the students expressed that funding was not an issue, 22.9% of
the students found less expensive alternatives but still fulfilled
Research is an important aspect of an undergraduate geoscience the same research interest, 10% of them had to completely
degree (i.e., Hunter et al., 2006; Laursen et al., 2010; Lopatto, 2009). change their research direction but still got research experience,
Like any research, undergraduate research requires a financial com- and 4.3% of the students had to give up their research due to
mitment to conduct the work. While most professional geoscience financial reasons.
societies (i.e., the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical
Society of America, the Society of Economic Geologists, and Sigma Our survey collected a lot of comments from the students. The
Xi) have both undergraduate and graduate research grants, the comments have four common themes:
research grant budget is catered to graduate students. For example, 1. Student identity. Transfer students “have no idea who to even
in 2020, the GSA Graduate Research Grant Program funded 360 speak to about this (applying for grants)” and international stu-
graduate students at an average award of US$1,820. Undergraduate dents wish that the grants were “given regardless of citizen-
research grants are implemented through GSA’s Sections with ship.” Students also find that “there are so few Section research
South-Central, North-Central, Southeastern, Northeastern, and grants available for undergraduates.”
Rocky Mountain Sections providing undergraduate research awards 2. Mentorship and support system at university. Students say that
ranging from US$500–US$1500. “without that amazing program [at my university] I never
To help understand the financial needs for undergraduate research, would’ve gotten the chance to do real, independent research.”
the GSA Student Advisory Council initiated an Undergraduate On the contrary, without sufficient support from the university,
Student Research Funding Survey in January 2021. We collected 70 students are “struggling to pull in funding to continue the work.”
survey responses, which is 1% of the GSA student members. For the 3. Mentorship dynamics. When some students’ mentors com-
demographic of the surveyed students, please check out our slide at pletely “handled most of the money,” the students “know little
https://bit.ly/3AhVaDY. to nothing (about budgeting) [and] feel as though outside of the
school setting they won’t be able to find a research job outside
RESULTS SUMMARY of college.”
1. 45.7% of the students needed less than US$1000 to complete
their research, 85.7% could complete their research for under We hope these students’ voices can be heard by the universities,
US$5000, while 7.1% needed >US$10,000 for their research. their departments, and professional organizations, including vari-
2. Students expressed needs for different aspects of research, ous leaderships within GSA. For example, we encourage under-
including stipends for time worked (35.7%), sample processing graduates to apply to the Sections’ undergraduate research grants,
at labs (30%), fieldwork (20%), and conference registration and and we encourage GSA Sections to consider expanding their
travel (12.9%). research grant programs (in terms of dollar value of grants and
3. Almost half (48.6%) of undergraduate student research is fully number of recipients). We can invest in the future of undergradu-
funded. However, 21.4% of student research has no funding at all. ate students by investing in undergraduate research.
4. University/department programs (60%) and outside scholarships
and grants (38.6%) are the two most popular funding sources for REFERENCES CITED
undergraduate students. Individual donor/professor’s grants Hunter, A.-B., Laursen, S., and Seymour, E., 2006, Becoming a scientist: The
(28.6%), self (22.9%), and family members (7.1%) are also fund- role of undergraduate research in students’ cognitive, personal, and profes-
sional development: Science Education, v. 91, p. 36–74.
ing sources for undergraduate research. Laursen, S., Hunter, A.-B., Seymour, E., Thirty, H., and Melton, G., 2010, Un-
5. Challenges for students to find research grants include finding dergraduate Research in the Sciences: Engaging Students in Real Science:
grants specifically for undergraduate students (44.3%), not San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 314 p.
being aware of research grant platforms or resources (42.9%), Lopatto, D., 2009, Science in Solution: The Impact of Undergraduate Research on
not being able to find grants for their research interest (32.9%), Student Learning, Tucson, Arizona, Research Corporation for Science Ad-
vancement, 132 p., https://gustavus.edu/kendallcenter/undergraduate-research/
the award amount is too small to cover the budget (22.9%), and documents/Science_in_Solution_Lopatto.pdf (last accessed 6 Aug. 2021).
grants are too competitive (22.9%). Being an international stu-
dent (11.4%), as well as one’s gender and/or ethnicity (4.3%),
can restrict one’s access to opportunities.

52 GSA Today | October 2021