Follow this page for all the messaging sent to members of the Longhorn community from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Guidance for URF Recipients and Faculty Mentors
March 30
As students begin online classes this week, we wanted to provide you with an update on how we are addressing the new challenges for undergraduate research this semester. We are working with our business office on ways to support you and provide some flexibility regarding the URF, particularly for work that might now extend into the summer and beyond. Details are still being worked out, and we hope to have an update for you soon.
Until then, to the extent that it is possible, we recommend consulting with faculty mentors to make alternate plans that can be carried out remotely. In cases where this isn’t possible, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu and we will work with you to accommodate other ways to make use of your URF as best as possible.
We appreciate your patience as we continue to find solutions to these new challenges. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu.
Follow-up for Undergraduate Research Fellowship Recipients and Faculty Mentors
March 18
The University has now updated its guidance for undergraduate researchers in light of the move to online classes; you can find more information here and here.
Two key changes are:
- Undergraduates will no longer participate in research in person.
- Undergraduate researchers in laboratories should not return to campus after spring break. Return waivers will not be granted solely for the purpose of working in labs. Faculty supervisors who work with undergraduates in the laboratory for course credit should find research-related activities for them that will permit them to obtain course credit for the full semester.
We understand that these changes will impact many students’ ability to carry out their planned projects and to make use of previously purchased research materials. To the extent that it is possible, we recommend consulting with faculty mentors to make alternate plans that can be carried out remotely. In cases where this isn’t possible, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu and we will work with you to accommodate other ways to make use of your URF as best as possible.
Spring recipients: we will be in contact as soon as possible with account information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu.
For Longhorn Research Poster Session Presenters and Partners
March 17
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the Office of Undergraduate Research will be making changes to this year’s Longhorn Research Poster Session to ensure that students still have a forum for sharing their work. Based on CDC, local, and university guidance, in lieu of holding the LRPS as an in-person event, we will be converting the event into an online, virtual poster session. All presenters will be able to upload a pdf of their research poster for viewing by the UT community.
We’ll send out more specifics about the online platform in the coming days. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know:
- Students should still plan on designing a research poster. You’ll still need to submit the poster to us as a pdf by April 8.
- If you’re involved in sensitive research with your PI, please confirm with them that it won’t pose a problem for you to share your work electronically. (In rare cases, there may be intellectual property or related concerns that preclude sharing research more widely than in person.)
- Our remaining poster design workshops for the semester have been canceled. However, all student presenters have been added to a Canvas page where you can access our design materials, including a video of our workshop and a template file to use as your starting point for designing your poster. If you cannot access the Canvas page, email uresearch@austin.utexas.edu.
- Our awards process will remain largely the same: Poster pdfs submitted by the deadline will be considered for a poster design award. Students who are nominated by their colleges for our poster presentation awards will have the opportunity to present to judges virtually on April 16; more details will be forthcoming when we notify students of nominations.
- For questions or feedback on your poster design, please email uresearch@austin.utexas.edu.
Given the extraordinary circumstances, we’re strongly encouraging all our campus partners and programs that have a student presentation requirement to accept an online poster session as satisfying that requirement. We’re also encouraging other Research Week events to explore similar options.
Unfortunately, labs and organizations planning on tabling at the poster session will no longer be able to do so. Please let us know if you’d like us to help disseminate any materials electronically.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu —we’re here to help.
For Undergraduate Research Travel Award Applicants
March 16
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, those of you planning future research-related travel may need to modify your plans. The Office of Undergraduate Research is here to help you adapt to these challenges as best as possible.
Please be aware of the following:
- Based on current guidance, most university travel has been suspended.
- If you have applied for or received funding for upcoming conference travel, please look for communications from conference organizers about possible cancellations.
- If you have received travel funding and your event has been canceled, please contact us at uresearch@austin.utexas.edu.
- If your conference is expected to still take place (e.g., in the late summer), you must provide us with information from conference organizers about their plans for dealing with COVID-19 public health concerns. Please also keep in mind that, as the situation continues to change, further cancellations are possible.
- If you recently applied for spring 2020 travel funding and your event has been canceled, please contact us at uresearch@austin.utexas.edu to let us know. Over the next week or so, the Office of Undergraduate Research will be reviewing spring travel award proposals and contacting applicants with decisions.
If you were planning on presenting your research at a conference that has now been canceled, you may still want to list this presentation on your CV—regardless of event cancellation, your work went through a selection process and you were only unable to present due to factors outside anyone’s control. You might use a format similar to the following to accurately represent your accomplishment:
Poster Title. Poster Authors. Abstract accepted for presentation at the 259th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (2020). [Note: This meeting was canceled due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.]
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu —we’re here to help.
For Undergraduate Research Fellowship Recipients and Faculty Mentors
March 16
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, you may need to modify your URF research projects. The Office of Undergraduate Research is here to help you adapt to these challenges as best as possible.
The Office of the Vice President for Research has announced that the following policies are now in effect for all research at UT, in addition to other policies that might affect your project (PIs have already received more detailed information):
- All undergraduate students have the right to decide to decline to work in the laboratory environment without fear of retaliation or retribution. All undergraduates may request work-from-home and PIs may not decline that request.
- Face-to-face human subject research that does not provide a direct benefit to the subjects must be paused, effective immediately.
- Any work that can be done outside the lab should be done outside the lab until further notice. This includes data analysis, literature search, writing thesis chapters, etc.
- Undergraduates working in the labs as paid employees may continue to work in the lab if they desire to if PI deems it acceptable, and if it is allowed under department/ORU/College policy.
- Undergraduates working for course credit may continue to work until they have sufficient data to receive credit. PIs are encouraged to find alternative means of continuing the projects that minimize the amount of in-person presence required. Departments, ORUs, and Colleges may put more restrictive policies in place.
- Students in FRI and REU programs can expect to hear more from their PIs.
In light of other guidance, most university travel has been suspended, and on-campus events will be modified. Internal research events like the Longhorn Research Poster Session will be delivered online; presenters will receive more information in a separate email.
URF recipients are advised to work with their faculty mentors to find ways to carry out their work remotely. If your URF budget was heavily oriented around activities that are not currently possible (e.g., upcoming travel, human subjects research, etc.), we encourage you to be creative in finding alternate activities or budget items that will support your project. URF recipients wanting to amend their budget should send a revised version to uresearch@austin.utexas.edu. We’ll try to be as flexible as possible in accommodating amendment requests to ensure that students can continue their projects.
If you were planning on presenting your research at a conference that has now been canceled, you may still want to list this presentation on your CV—regardless of event cancellation, your work went through a selection process and you were only unable to present due to factors outside anyone’s control. You might use a format similar to the following to accurately represent your accomplishment:
Poster Title. Poster Authors. Abstract accepted for presentation at the 259th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (2020). [Note: This meeting was canceled due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.]
If you have any questions, concerns, or budget amendments, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu —we’re here to help.
For UGS 310/320 Students and Faculty Supervisors
March 16
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, you may need to modify your plan of work for receiving course credit via UGS 310/320. The Office of Undergraduate Research is here to help you adapt to these challenges as best as possible.
The Office of the Vice President for Research has announced that the following policies are now in effect for all research at UT, in addition to other policies that might affect your project (PIs have already received more detailed information):
- All undergraduate students have the right to decide to decline to work in the laboratory environment without fear of retaliation or retribution. All undergraduates may request work-from-home and PIs may not decline that request.
- Face-to-face human subject research that does not provide a direct benefit to the subjects must be paused, effective immediately.
- Any work that can be done outside the lab should be done outside the lab until further notice. This includes data analysis, literature search, writing thesis chapters, etc.
- Undergraduates working in the labs as paid employees may continue to work in the lab if they desire to if PI deems it acceptable, and if it is allowed under department/ORU/College policy.
- Students in FRI and REU programs can expect to hear more from their PIs.
- In light of other guidance, most university travel has been suspended, and on-campus events will be modified. Internal research events like the Longhorn Research Poster Session will be delivered online; presenters will receive more information in a separate email.
- Undergraduates working for course credit may continue to work until they have sufficient data to receive credit. PIs are encouraged to find alternative means of continuing the projects that minimize the amount of in-person presence required. Departments, ORUs, and Colleges may put more restrictive policies in place.
To this last point, we encourage UGS 310/320 students and faculty to be creative in finding ways to finish the semester. Some possibilities include:
Modifying the course syllabus and grading basis in favor of tasks that can be completed remotely
Adapting timelines, assignments, and grading basis to rely on data collection that has already taken place
In cases where it is not possible to transition to remote tasks for your current project, you may want to refocus on a significantly different topic than originally planned
We ask all UGS 310/320 students to let us know about the status of their contract course by completing the brief survey at https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e4IBeTryvyj7sRD as soon as possible.
Students and faculty wanting to make substantial revisions to their course contract should send a revised version to uresearch@austin.utexas.edu. Please include verification that your faculty supervisor agrees to changes (e.g., you can simply forward an email from them saying this, and cc them when you email us). We’ll try to be as flexible as possible in accommodating requests to ensure that students can continue their projects and finish the semester.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact uresearch@austin.utexas.edu —we’re here to help.