Applications are now open for the University of Kentucky Office of Undergraduate Research’s Sustainability Summer Research Fellowships. The annual fellowship gives undergraduates the opportunity to study in a wide variety of disciplines over the summer term while doing intensive and self-directed research or creative work under the supervision of a faculty mentor.   

The fellowships support projects that contribute to students’ academic growth as well as sustainability focused research initiatives at UK and within the community at large. 

“This research experience contributed significantly to my undergraduate education and life goals,” said former fellow Clay Turner, a natural resources and environmental science major in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. “After this research experience, I want to pursue a career that will allow me to simultaneously improve the environment and the communities I live in. It is not an exaggeration to say this experience was potentially life-altering.”

This collaborative program began in 2013 with the first set of summer research fellows funded in 2014. Since that time, the Sustainability Summer Research Fellowship program has supported 40 undergraduates and expanded in 2018 to include the Intercollegiate Summer Research Experience (ISRE). The fellowships are sponsored by the UK Student Sustainability Council (SSC) and UK Sustainability.

This year’s Sustainability Summer Research Fellowship program includes funding for the following fellowships: 

• Sustainability Summer Research Fellowships offer a $3,000 stipend to work alongside their UK faculty mentors. Five are available.

• Sustainability Intercollegiate Summer Research Experiences (ISREs) offer a $5,000 stipend to conduct research at an approved ISRE site. This year’s ISRE sites include Auburn University, Louisiana State University and University of California, Riverside. The ISRE program is modeled after the NSF-REU program and offers an immersive research experience for UK undergraduates. Three are available.

To help students with their applications, the SSC and Office of Undergraduate Research are hosting a Sustainability Fellowship Application Workshop at 6 p.m. Feb. 1, 2022, via Zoom.

The deadline to apply for the fellowship is 11:55 p.m. EST March 1, 2022. Those selected will be notified by April 1, 2022.

For more information about the Sustainability Summer Research Fellowships click here.