SURF Symposium Grants

The undergraduate research program embraces the domains and goals of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Core Curriculum: inquiry; knowledge; and communication. Supporting mentored scholarship also affirms ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s centrality of the arts and sciences and aligns with University’s Mission Statement.

In order to support these commitments, the undergraduate research program and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College jointly offer five Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) Symposium Grants. These grants are capped at $1,000. These grants cannot be used as stipends, but could provide support for mentor-student teams to develop a SURF symposium around a common topic or theme.

These grants can be used for but, are not limited to:

  • travel to workshops and/or conferences that enhance the symposium participants’ understanding of their theme;
  • books, equipment, software, databases or other materials that will enhance the symposium participants’ understanding of their theme; and
  • other costs directly related to facilitating and supporting interaction among the symposium participants.

Each symposium will consist of four faculty-student teams representing at least three departments. At least two of the departments must come from ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College. These symposia will be a part of the SURF program. The symposia will be typically structured with the four students presenting their studies in succession (15 minutes each) and then the presentations will be followed by a 30-40 minute facilitated discussion of the research topic and questions from the audience.

To apply for a SURF symposium grant, faculty and students should use the application form found on this webpage. It will be expected that the applicants provide a symposium theme, the student research project titles, and a brief description of how these studies connect to the symposium theme.

All equipment and software purchased with SURF symposium funds become property of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. We do not pay students for their labor (e.g., transcription, inter-rater reliability) but we do reimburse for gift cards for participants and professional transcription.

Application

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

The mentor/student teams must email the completed application to Justin Clar (jclar@elon.edu) by 5 p.m. on the date of the deadline.

Click  to access the application guide. Please submit your application .

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