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 ninth 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:
The 2026 application will be available in spring 2026. Please review the checklist below for required information.
Application Materials Checklist
*Files will be uploaded to the application form for these application materials
A committee comprised of librarians and UIS faculty members from different disciplines will judge all submissions using the following rubric.
The core criteria for the Undergraduate Research Award are:
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.
2025 1st Place Winners: Cameron Brown
Canary in the Crow’s Nest: William Kidd’s Trial as an Extension of Henry Avery’s
2025 2nd Place Winner: Abhishek Soni
Bridging Physics and Machine Learning: Exploring SEIR Epidemiological Modeling using Physics-Informed Neural Networks
2025 3rd Place Winner: Noel Gauen
The Business of Oppression: The United States’ Demand for Forced Labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
2025 4th Place Winner: Abbie Hasty
Understanding the Growth of Online Sports Betting Among America’s 18-24-year-old Population: A Study of Marketing Techniques Used by Major Online Sports Betting Advertisers
2025 5th Place Winner: Nathan Davis
Water Quality Evaluation of Lake Springfield and the Emiquon Preserve using Macroinvertebrates