The Health Sciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) is offering awards to help cover the cost of registration and travel (up to $500) for undergraduate students presenting original research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 2026), April 13-15, 2026.
Applications were due by Friday, February 13, 2026.
Eligibility
- Student must be an undergraduate at either a two- or four-year institution
- Student’s mentor must be a CUR member, or the student’s home institution must be a CUR institutional member
- If there are multiple undergraduate student authors on the same abstract submission, only the presenting author is eligible for the award.
Submission Process
The submission form requires the following information:
- Information about the student, including: name, email, institution, major, and academic year.
- A brief personal statement (maximum 500 words) regarding how attendance to NCUR will assist the student in their future career goals.
- Information about the mentor, including: name, email, title, institution, CUR membership status
- Information about their NCUR Abstract.
- All information should be the same as submitted in the NCUR abstract submission portal.
- Abstracts should include:
- A sentence that clearly states the study’s OBJECTIVE (unless included in the title)
- A brief statement of METHODS (if pertinent)
- A summary of the RESULTS
- A statement of CONCLUSIONS (it is not acceptable to state “the results will be discussed”)
- A statement of SIGNIFICANCE
Review Process
A committee composed of councilors from the Health Sciences Division will review applications. Award recipients will be chosen based on the scholarly merit described in their abstract and how NCUR attendance will impact the student. We are planning to notify the award recipients in mid-March.
Health Sciences NCUR Presentation Award Recipients
Elizabeth Dimitrova (University of Portland)
Navya Kundula (Drexel University)
Paris Martin (Case Western Reserve University)
Cameron Ponton (Morehouse College)
Erica Thaggard (Western Carolina University)
Maria Kang (University of Washington, Seattle)
Samantha Miglore (University of Central Florida)
Awardees
All CUR Award recipients are responsible for any and all applicable tax obligations associated with receipt of the award.
As students, faculty, mentors, organizations, and institutions honored with becoming a part of the CUR award recipient community, you have the professional and ethical responsibility to maintain the highest professional conduct standards and embody the CUR Code of Ethics for Undergraduate Research in your words, actions, and deeds. In addition, all participants are expected to abide by the CUR Code of Conduct. Expectations for awardees are to show courtesy and civility in both their personal and professional communications while representing CUR and the distinguished honor of the specific award rewarded. One must conduct oneself in a manner both professional and ethical.
Questions may be addressed to Kelly Massey, Ph.D.