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 24, 2020
• The winner will be announced on May 1st, 2020

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
• A statement of support from the UIS faculty member who taught the course or administered the research project for which the paper/project/poster was originally submitted. (We understand that getting the statement of support can take some time, so the deadline is very flexible on this item)

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, sadly, ineligible for consideration.

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:  

2019 1st Place Winners: Conor McKenzie and Payton Raso

Forgottonia

2019 2nd Place Winner: Heba Qazi

Patently Underdeveloped: How Misuse of Patent Law by Unethical Business Practices of the Pharmaceutical Industry Hurts Developing Nations

2019 3rd Place Winners: Alan Huebschen and Robert Stockwell

Computational Exploration of Neural Networks in the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus