Faculty Mentoring Grant

Faculty Eligibility

Eligible applicants include UHM faculty who meet one or more of the following requirements:

• Tenured/tenure-track
• Classified by the UHM Graduate Division as Regular or Cooperating Graduate Faculty at any level (1-3)
• Currently ineligible faculty may: (i) partner with an eligible faculty member to submit a joint proposal; the eligible member must submit the proposal, and will receive the grant funds if successful; or, (ii) complete a Faculty Mentor Eligibility Petition; the Faculty Mentor Eligibility Petition must be submitted to UROP at least two weeks prior to the submission of a Faculty Mentoring Grant proposal in order to ensure timely consideration of the Petition.

Please note that granting of faculty mentor eligibility is not guaranteed. Applicants who choose to petition for eligibility in lieu of partnering with an eligible UHM faculty member and are not ultimately granted eligibility will not be considered for the Faculty Mentoring Grant. Grant funds will not be disbursed to successful applicants until eligibility is granted.  

Student Eligibility

Eligible undergraduate mentees include UHM undergraduate students who plan to graduate from UHM, but who have not graduated before the end of Summer 2021, and who will not be concurrently funded with UROP Project Funding in Summer 2021. 

Maximum funding request

Faculty across all disciplines at UHM may apply for up to $5,000 per undergraduate student mentee, for up to 3 mentees, or a maximum of $15,000 for 3 or more mentees. 

Acceptable expenditures 

All funds are to be used to directly support the undergraduate student’s project in Summer 2021.

Allowable expenditures include:

• Materials and supplies
• Travel costs for students (currently suspended in accordance with University of Hawai‘i policy. See note below).
• Student wages

Note: UROP follows the current University of Hawai‘i guidelines on travel, and therefore is not sponsoring travel. Visit the University of Hawai‘i COVID-19 Travel Information webpage to learn more.

Non-allowable expenditures include:

• Faculty summer salary
• Student tuition
• Any expenses not directly related to the student’s project

Fund distribution

Funds will be distributed to successful faculty applicants as a RTRF account, and faculty will have until August 31, 2021 to expend all funds.

View complete application instructions here.

Successful applicants will demonstrate a clear student recruitment plan and a strong mentorship plan. Applicants should clearly describe the proposed student project as well as the timeline and associated activities. Proposals must include a justified budget clearly demonstrating how all funds will be used to directly support the student’s project. All applicants must also include a COVID-19 safety plan describing how the project will adhere to COVID-19 regulations and safety procedures. (This COVID-19 safety plan is required, but will not be scored). Preference will be given to:

• Applicants whose student mentees will participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program, a cohort-based program that will run from June 3 – July 30, with professional development modules once every ~2 weeks and the SURE Symposium on July 30, 2021.
• Applicants who demonstrate leveraging other funds

Proposals will be reviewed by UROP staff members, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Council (UROC) members, and/or ad hoc faculty reviewers, and will be scored based on a Rubric.