Research assistance grants are financial help provided to students working as research assistants on faculty research projects. The projects undertaken by the students have significant educational content and allow them to learn valuable research skills. Students employed through theses grants generally work for 8-10 hours a week for some time of their semester tenure and are not employed in other work-study job.
Since these grants are made to the faculty, to be paid to the students later, the proposals for research assistance grants should be submitted by the faculty members, academic departments or programs themselves. Selecting and hiring the suitable student to work on the supported project is the responsibility of the faculty members and the academic departments.
Faculty grants committee, an interdisciplinary group, reviews the proposals for research assistance grants. These grants may include the student’s wages for one or two semesters. The proposal should include a brief description of the project, the work the student will be hired for, the benefits of the work to the faculty member’s research and some information on the support projects, if any. Unlike faculty grants, the research assistance grants must be exhausted in the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.
