Research Opportunities

Being an Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) is a great opportunity for students to gain experience and skills valued by employers, graduate schools and medical schools. The role of the URA varies depending on the faculty members’ needs which is dependent on their research interests. Below is a list of faculty members accepting inquiries from interested students.

• Please copy and paste the email link provided to contact the faculty member.
• When contacting a faculty member, please include:
  • Your name
  • Year
  • Major
  • Say that you are responding to the CHDLT Research Opportunities page, as well as any additional items the faculty member requests.

Even after research projects have been funded the CHDLT will continue to look for ways to support our faculty associates in research. Research that has already been submitted and funded externally under the auspices of the CHDLT, and has generated Facilities and Administrative (F&A) funds for the Center, may be used directly by the PI to facilitate the funded research. Faculty Associate PIs should briefly identify the amount of funding they will need and how it will be used to support the funded projects.

Half-Time Graduate Research Assistant

The center is offering a 9-hour-a-week (half-time) graduate assistant from the School Psychology program (their other 9 hours will be assisting with the coordination of the CHDLT), available for affiliates who need assistance in either:

1. preparing/writing a grant application,
2. carrying out grant-funded research (i.e., funded research that was submitted through the CHDLT), or
3. collect and analyze data that will be used in an upcoming external grant proposal.

This assistance is available either for the Fall semester, the Spring semester, or both – depending on the workload and timeline. We will be seeking applications each Spring semester. A Google Form will be shared with the Faculty Associates during the Spring with a specified due date. Once applications are due, the co-directors and executive board will review all applications and select one awardee that seems to be the best fit for the resources for the upcoming year.

Faculty Undergraduate Research Assistants (Faculty URAs)

The CHDLT is dedicating resources to help individual CHDLT Faculty Associates (FA) recruit, train, and utilize URAs from outside their home departments (with the purpose of promoting interdisciplinary work) to assist with any phase of the research process.

1. On their own or with the help of the CHDLT Board, an FA will identify one or two undergraduates outside their home departments to serve as URAs.
2. The student(s)will be formally enrolled for independent study research credit with the faculty member.
3. The FA will propose a budget of up to $300 per student per year ($600 maximum) to facilitate research and training. Admissible expenses include online training for students, books and other relevant research materials, software, student travel expenses to and from research sites, and participant incentives. Up to $100 per student may be used by faculty for their own professional development.
4. The faculty member will acknowledge the CHDLT assistance in professional presentations and publications stemming from work conducted with the assistance of the URAs.
5. Recipients will write a brief memo to the CHDLT co-directors at the end of the academic year in which the funds were used, not to exceed one page, describing the work students did, outcomes, and advice for future recipients. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis at regularly scheduled CHDLT executive board meetings, with no more than two awards being made in any given semester, each supporting up to two students.

The purpose of this program is to provide CHDLT faculty associates with detailed, actionable feedback on drafts of external grant proposals from national experts with relevant expertise. Faculty Associates should:

1. Have or commit to writing a complete proposal to a specific external Request for Applications (e.g., the NIH) with a specific deadline, and then
2. Identify one or more experts with experience reviewing such grant proposals (a good place to start is looking at past review committees and identifying folks who have experience but are not currently on the committee, or past awardees).

We recommend that you ask the external expert to use the relevant scoring rubric of the funding agency to score and comment upon the proposal as they would if they were on the review panel, and provide additional detailed, actionable advice for improving the proposal to achieve a fundable score. A brief description of the specific grant, funding agency, and timeline should be included, as well as the vita (CV) of the faculty associate and a CV or brief description of the expert reviewer’s background/qualifications. The faculty associate must then submit the revised proposal to the funding agency by the deadline.

Applications will be judged by the significance of the award, the likelihood of funding, and the credentials of the expert reviewer. This mechanism is intended to help faculty associates get significant, well-formed research proposals “over the top” and funded.

A strength of the CHDLT is connecting with faculty associates from across campus with common research interests. We have found that a good way to explore common research interests is to chat over lunch. To help facilitate these interactions, the CHDLT is willing to pick up the tab. The application is simply an email to one of the CHDLT co-directors identifying two or more CHDLT Faculty Associates from different departments who want to get together for lunch to talk about research. The faculty associate will then submit the receipt to the CHDLT for reimbursement up to $50.

While this award is not currently available, the CHDLT will be introducing this new research support during the 2027 – 2028 academic year!

The Center for Human Development, Learning, and Technology supports faculty research across several disciplines. The CHDLT encourages faculty to seek external funding that not only advances the individual’s research agenda but also supports the CHDLT mission and programming through recovery of indirect costs. The course release under this application is meant to provide the time for faculty to write a significant external funding application.

The award will cover the university’s standard for a course release (10% of salary + 40% for benefits). Awards will be made only for projects that are initiated and supervised by Miami University CHDLT faculty associates.

In considering proposals, the CHDLT will consider the merit (project, fit, funding amount), feasibility, and likely fundability of the proposal. At maximum, one course release will be awarded per year, pending the quality of applications and availability of funds.

The application will include four components.

1. A description of the aims of the project and how the grant fits into the applicant’s research agenda and career trajectory (1-2 pages).
2. A description of indicators of the likely success of the grant proposal. This should include:
   1. Identification of the specific funding mechanism (agency, grant type if applicable, anticipated direct costs, and whether indirect costs are allowable)
   2. Submission timeline (due date of grant application, benchmarks of completion)
   3. Documentation of communication with the program officer or equivalent
3. Documented commitment to connect the CHDLT to the collection of indirect costs, if applicable.
4. Letter of support from the Department Chair in consultation with the dean.