Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award: Home

Though the UIS Campus closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is still being offered.  

Deadlines and Important Dates

• All application materials are due by 11:59 pm on April 23, 2021
• The winner will be announced on April 30th, 2021

Application Materials Checklist

• A completed application form.
• A short abstract introducing the research question being explored by the submission. Include a discussion of hypotheses, methodology and/or results when appropriate.
• A final version of the research paper, project or poster presentation.
• A bibliography or other appropriate list of sources consulted/works cited
• An email sent to laubersh@uis.edu from the UIS faculty member who taught the course or administered the research project for which the paper/project/poster was originally submitted. The email just needs to be a simple statement confirming that that project was overseen or assigned by the faculty member.  

Undergraduate research, scholarly and creative activities are foundational components of a complete liberal arts education. With this in mind, Brookens Library and the Friends of Brookens Library are pleased to announce the sixth annual Undergraduate Library Research Award. 

This award was created to recognize and reward UIS undergraduate students whose academic work incorporates the use of Brookens Library’s collections and services and demonstrates exceptional information literacy skills. In addition to recognition at UIS, the award includes a monetary prize generously sponsored by the Friends of Brookens Library: 

• $500 for first place
• $400 for second place
• $300 for third place
• $200 for fourth place
• $100 for fifth place.

How to Apply

Application for the Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is a Two-step Process:

Step 1) Fill out the online application form here:  https://uofi.uis.edu/fb/sec/1048711

Step 2) One of the Brookens Librarians will contact you to arrange for you to electronically submit your materials using Box.com

Respectfully, we request that you do not send in your project materials until instructed to do so.

Eligibility

The Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award is open to undergraduate students enrolled at University of Illinois Springfield in any academic level for the current academic year.  

• All disciplines are eligible.
• The paper, project or poster must be tied to a specific UIS course or other appropriate undergraduate research projects.
• Submissions must be from the current or previous academic year.
• Individual or team submissions are allowed (in the event a team submission wins the award, the prize will be split among the team members).
• The paper, project or poster must be completed by the application deadline.
• All submissions must contain an element of library research that demonstrates the use of primary and/or secondary sources. This could be a literature review, an annotated bibliography or other means of documentation appropriate to the project submitted.
• The submitted paper or project must have a reference list (works cited).
• All applicants must agree to give the library permission to upload winning papers/projects to the campus institutional repository (IDEALS).
• Previous Brookens Library Undergraduate Research Award winners are allowed to submit another entry, but may not submit work that has already been awarded.

Evaluation Criteria

A committee comprised of librarians and UIS faculty members from different disciplines will judge all submissions using the following criteria:

• Demonstrated ability to select, evaluate, and synthesize appropriate library resources and successfully use them in the creation of a research project or paper.
• Evidence of significant scholastic and/or personal learning and the development of a steady research pattern or habits that can be utilized in future academic endeavors.
• Ability to describe and analyze the applicant’s research strategies, techniques, and learning process.
• Originality/uniqueness of the project/topic, mastery of content (appropriate to class level), clear writing, and overall quality of the project.

The scoring rubric that will be used for judging can be found here:  

2021 1st Place Winner: Alexandra Simpson

Complexity in Nature and Humanity in Red Sorghum

2021 2nd Place Winner: Malavika Mujumdar

Graphic Poetry as Historical Experience in Naoko Fujimoto’s “Thursdays” and “On A Black Hill”

2021 3rd Place Winners: Benjamin Garrett

An Overview of the Life, Extinction, and Possible De-Extinction of Mammuthus Primigenius

2021 4th Place Winner: Rebecca Wheeler

Decision Vision II: Investigating the Effects of Mental Simulation on Accuracy During Affect-Induced and Logic-Induced Decisions by Intuitive and Rational Decision Makers​

2021 5th Place Winner: Joshua Melnick

Development of DNA Barcoding in Oak Species