Radke Research Fellowship

2023-2024 Frederick Radke Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Call For Proposals

Due date: Monday, November 13th

Fellowship Submission Form

The Molecular & Biomedical Sciences (MBS) Department with support of a generous gift from Eric (’68, ’73G, BCH) and Betty Brennan developed a fellowship program to enhance and increase undergraduate student involvement in faculty-supervised research. This gift is designed to enable undergraduate research opportunities within the MBS Department. Fellowships will be awarded for the 2023-2024 academic year on a competitive basis as funds permit; the competition is open to all majors in the department (Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology, and Microbiology). Each fellowship provides financial support for students to conduct faculty-mentored research. The Radke Fellowships Committee will review research proposals for clarity of objectives, importance to the field, proposed approach, appropriateness of the budget, and indication of the project feasibility. Prior fellowship awardees are eligible to re-apply to continue their research, while priority will be given to those that have not been previously funded by this mechanism. Students at all stages of their undergraduate academic career are encouraged to apply.

Application and Eligibility:

  1. Any undergraduate student, currently enrolled in a degree program within the Molecular & Biomedical Sciences Department at the University of Maine may submit a proposal in consultation with an MBS faculty mentor.
  2. Applicants will describe the research, placing it in the context of scholarly activities, while presenting it in a way that it is understandable to the reviewers from outside of the applicant’s field.
  3. Recipients must submit a brief report including technical and financial data by May 10, 2024 and are expected to present their research findings at the UMaine Student Symposium (UMSS24) or another local, regional, national or international professional meeting.
  4. Recipients may not concurrently hold other concomitant individual fellowships supporting the same work (e.g. CUGR, Honors/INBRE).

Proposal Format:

  1. Abstract (<150 words, separate page): The abstract should contain a concise overview of the project. The word limit for the abstract is no more than 150 words and should be on a separate page. (Not included in the 2-page limit.)
  2. Project Description (2 pages): Describe objectives of the research, the importance of the project to the field, and how the project will be accomplished. The word limit for the project description is 1,000 words, with a maximum length of 2 pages, including figures and legends related to the background and experimental plan. Up to an additional 2 pages of figures and legends of preliminary data generated by the applicant may be included as an Appendix, although preliminary data is not required. Faculty from a range of disciplines will review the applications; therefore, the proposal should be written in general terms, with sufficient details to allow for scholarly review.
    Format your Research Proposal as follows:

    • Project Description (2 pages):
      • Background: Literature Review and Preliminary Data, if any (preliminary data are not required)
      • Specific Aims & Hypothesis (clearly stated)
      • Experimental Plan (Methods and Expected Outcomes)
      • Potential Pitfalls and Alternative Approaches (potential problems with research hypothesis or design and solutions)
    • Appendix: Additional preliminary results and figures (up to 2 pages; optional; not included in the 2-page limit)
    • Citations (not included in the 2-page limit)
    • Budget (table format) and Budget Justification (not included in the 2-page limit): A maximum of $1000 may be requested for supplies or other research related expenses such as travel or printing a poster to present research results in professional meetings and conferences or stipend to support research efforts. Fellowships will be funded based on available resources. In addition to an itemized budget, a descriptive budget justification is required. Supplies generally refer to laboratory supplies but could include analytical software needed specifically for the project or CPU time on a server. It does not include the purchase of personal computers. Requests for academic year stipends will be covered based on financial need and reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on the justification and mentor support. Expenses directly associated with the research during the 12/1/2023 – 5/3/2024 performance period will be covered, and funds will not carry forward.

      Submission:       Applications must be submitted on time by the posted deadline. Students will upload a PDF file on the submission page. File name should follow this format: Student Last Name_Student First Name_Radke

      Commitment Letter: Faculty mentors are expected to provide a letter commenting on the student’s research and academic abilities and confirming the faculty member’s commitment to mentoring the student. Once the proposal has been submitted, the corresponding faculty member will be contacted to submit a brief commitment letter on-line. (Due Friday, November 17, 2023)