The Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant

The Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant is an initiative aimed at promoting student research in collaboration with a faculty mentor.

Applications are open!

Award amount: This grant may fund one or two students to serve as research assistants on their faculty mentor's ongoing project in 2024-2025. It awards $1,000 to the faculty mentor and $2,000 to each student assistant.

Timeline: Awardees are typically notified by the end of the spring semester. The Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship begins in the following fall and extends through spring of the following year.

Deadline for submission: April 8, 11:59 p.m.

Application Drop In Office Hours

For more information on the Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship program or the Marcus Undergraduate Assistantship Grant, you are invited to attend CURE’s Grant Application Drop-In Office Hours on Friday, March 22 from 9 10:30 a.m., held by Prof. Cynthia Wilczak (Anthropology) or on Tuesday, April 2 from 34 p.m., held by Prof. Rebecca Eissler (Political Science).

Requirements and Expectations

All tenured and tenure-track full-time faculty members in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts are eligible to apply. This grant promotes scholarly activity conducted by undergraduate students and a faculty member in a partnership. Projects must involve mentoring across a range of research activities.

Research projects are broadly construed to include all disciplines represented in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, and in all cases, students must be learning and practicing research/scholarship skills appropriate to the field of inquiry. 

Faculty Eligibility

  • Must be a tenured/tenure-track full-time faculty member in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts.
  • The faculty mentor should commit to meeting weekly or biweekly with the student research assistant(s).
  • In an effort to spread resources, faculty who have recently been recipients of the Marcus Assistantship Award will be lower priority.

Student Eligibility

  • Must be declared undergraduate majors in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts.
  • Must be enrolled during both the fall and spring semesters of the awarded academic year.
  • Must not be studying abroad in 2024-2025.

Expectations

  • All student recipients will present results of their project at the Spring 2025 LCA Undergraduate Research Showcase.
  • The faculty member will present brief remarks about student contributions at the Marcus Grants End of Year Celebration in May 2025 and will also submit a 1,000 word report at that time that reflects on their experiences.

Application Components

To apply for the Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant, you will need to include the following:

  1. General Information: Your name and contact information, Department/School, etc.
  2. A copy of your most recent CV
  3. Project Title and Abstract
  4. Project Narrative
  5. Project timeline including what will be accomplished by student research assistant(s) at each stage.
  6. Faculty Mentorship Plan
  7. Name and contact information for your proposed student assistant(s) if you have this information (it can also be added later once the grant has been awarded)
  8. Justification for a second student assistant (if applicable)
  9. Additional Materials (optional)

Marcus Undergraduate Assistantship Grant: Current and Past Winners

A quién le importa cómo escribo? Understanding bilingual students' literacy skills in higher education
Ana Lourdes Cardenas
Department of Journalism
Student Researcher: Daniel Eduardo Hernandez

 

The Politics of Backlash: The forces behind the effort to ‘remove, recall, and replace’ reform-minded prosecutors in the U.S.
Josh Davis
Department of Journalism
Student Researcher: Daniel Hernandez, Gabriela Calvillo Alvarez

 

The Traveling Radio Show Goes to the CSU!
Jeff Jacoby
Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts
Student Researcher: Fares Muthana

 

‘Best intentions’: A qualitative longitudinal study of journalists’ perceptions about advocacy, objectivity, and collaboration in reporting on homelessness
Laura Moorhead
Department of Journalism
Student Researchers: Adriana Hernandez, Steven Rissotto

 

Running as a Republican: Political Ambition Among Republican Women Candidates in US States
Amanda Roberti
Department of Political Science
Student Researcher: Brooke McNeill

 

Design of Origami-Inspired New Metamaterials
Pino Trogu
School of Design
Student Researchers: Elizabeth Montano, Jojo Mennick

Queering the Newsroom: Using Engagement Strategies to Improve Coverage in the Bay Area
Josh Davis
Department of Journalism
Student Researchers: Nicole Buss, Myron Caringal

From the Bay to the Valley: California Politics in Context
Marcela García-Castañon
Department of Political Science
Student Researcher: Arturo Avila

Animation Matters: Interrogating Diversity in Mainstream Animated Features
Mihaela Mihailova
School of Cinema
Student Researcher: Madisyn Montoya

‘It’s my job’: Scientists Working with Journalists and the Mediatization of Science
Laura L. Moorhead
Department of Journalism

Under-Represented Cinemas in The Archive
Greta Snider
School of Cinema

Forging A Deeper Democracy?: Assessing Participatory Budgeting in the Bay Area
Ron Hayduk
Department of Political Science

Big Apple 80s: A Geolocated Audio Trip to the Birth of MTV
Elizabeth Bradley Hunter
School of Theatre & Dance

Decolonizing Linguistics: Computer-Mediated Communication as an Inclusive Gateway to the Discipline
Jenny Lederer
Department of English Language and Literature

Finding the needle, re-thinking the haystack: A systematic review of labels and descriptors of ‘low-skilled’ populations in U.S. health literacy research
Maricel Santos
Department of English Language and Literature

A New Critical Edition of ‘Romeo and Juliet’: A Digital Humanities Project
Kurt Daw
School of Theatre and Dance
Student Researchers: Jason Bolich, Nicolaz Ruiz

Shakespeare’s ‘Lear’: A VR/Live Performance Hybrid
Elizabeth Hunter
School of Theatre and Dance
Student Researchers: Nicole Carlson, Jo Rhoades

Lexical Variation and Sociolinguistic Style in a Bay Area High School
Teresa Pratt
English Language and Literature Department
Student Researchers: Ana Abarca, Shane Cueva

The Unpublished Works of Elizabeth Anscombe
Jeremy Reid
Philosophy Department
Student Researcher: Ivan Manriquez Jr.

From the Left or the Right? Anti-Semitism in Germany Since 2002
Scott Siegel
International Relations Department
Student Researcher: Nicolle Mariani

A Juggler’s Choice: Agendas and Attention in the Modern Presidency
Rebecca Eissler
Political Science Department
Student Researcher: Elizabeth Wedel

China’s Multilateral Activism and the Postwar Order: Rule Taker, Rule Shaper, Rule Breaker or Rule Maker?
See-Won Byun
International Relations Department
Student Researcher: Samuel Catania

Is It Teasing or Bullying? Interactional Practices and Blurry Lines
Leah Wingard
Communication Studies Department
Student Researcher: Austin Schutz

Vegetarian Indian Restaurant or Indian Vegetarian Restaurant: Order of Attributes in Search Queries
Anastasia Smirnova
English Language and Literature Department
Student Researcher: Lauren Baker

What They Bring with Them: Pre-Migration Experiences and Trajectories in American Politics of American Immigrants
Marcela García-Castañon
Political Science Department
Student Researcher: Yvette Osio

George and Judy Marcus Funds for Excellence in the Liberal Arts