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Student Research and Professional Development Programs

The purpose of the Student Research Associateship (SRA), Mentored Student Research Travel (SRT), and Student Professional Development (SPD) programs are to provide opportunities for students to participate in on/off-campus mentored research or fieldwork and to present at appropriate discipline-specific professional meetings/conferences. Applicants must be current BYUH students to apply and to qualify for SRA/SRT/SPD funding at time of research and/or travel. Research projects must be initiated and mentored by full-time faculty members. Students may not apply to receive travel support for more than one trip within the same calendar year.

Get Involved in Faculty-Mentored Research

There are three major ways at BYUH for students to be involved in mentored research:

1. SRA (Student Research Associateship) Program: it functions like an independent study course, where students conduct mentored research and must register under the discipline’s 496R course number. The program also requires students to present the research findings at a professional conference. Potential presentation venues and dates must be included in the application. Acceptance to a conference should follow to finalize the approval for travel. See application and guidelines below.

2. SRT (Student Research Travel) Program: students work as project-based RA (research assistant) for faculty members and get paid like regular campus student employees (up to 19 hours/week, and employment ends at the conclusion of project as proposed by full-time faculty). When travel is necessary to collect data for research, SRT provides support for such purposes. Use the same application as SRA.

3. SPD (Student Professional Development) travel support: students receive travel support to present at an eligible scholarly/professional discipline-specific conference (requires a full-time faculty mentor). This program does not require students to be concurrently enrolled in an Independent Research Associateship (496R) course. To meet the deadline, application with research plan and conference abstract should be submitted when the abstract is being submitted to potential conference venues. See application form below.

* All forms must be signed by the mentor and accompanied by the full proposal.
* Priority is given to support for domestic travels.
* Travel support for group projects is limited to two students for the same project.
* Students traveling internationally must be accompanied by a faculty mentor who oversees the research and also presents at the same conference.
* The programs cover, up to $2000, flight/ground transportation, lodging (no meals are included), and registration fees only.

Key Dates for SRA and SRT Applications

Key DatesWinter SemesterSpring SemesterFall Semester
Proposal deadlineOct. 30Feb. 28Jun. 25

For SPD, applications must be submitted no later than one month before travel.

Communicate with the SRA/SRT/SPD at admin_aid@byuh.edu.