Who is eligible to apply?

All registered Hopkins undergraduates in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, the Peabody Institute, and the Whiting School of Engineering (freshmen, sophomores, and juniors) in good academic standing (i.e. not on academic probation, suspension, or leave for any reason) are eligible. Seniors graduating prior to the summer project period are NOT eligible. 

HOUR especially encourages applications from students from underserved backgrounds (e.g. first-generation students, limited income backgrounds), students who are underrepresented in their field of study, and/or those who may not have previously had the opportunity to participate in an independent research experience.

What kind of projects are accepted?

Research, scholarly, creative, and artistic activities that lead to:

• The creation of new knowledge;
• Increased problem-solving capabilities, including design and analysis;
• Original, critical, or historical theory and interpretation; or
• The production of new art or artistic performance.

Do you accept group projects?

No, PURA and Summer PURA are intended for single applicants. Groups with projects involving the betterment of human health should consider applying to the Catalyst Program

What is an ‘independent’ research, scholarly, or creative project?

• Independent projects (in any field) can be a unique project conceived of by the student with a university mentor providing guidance and support. HOUR is happy to help students connect with a mentor if they have been unable to identify one.
• Independent projects can also take place in a larger group or lab, where the undergraduate is assigned an identified portion of the project. The undergraduate is given ‘ownership’ of that portion as it contributes to the larger project.

Does my project have to be related to my major or minor?

No, your undergraduate years are the time to explore your interests. We are happy to fund passion projects as well as projects related to your major or minor.

Can my mentor be from another institution (Not Hopkins)?

No, the intention of the PURA and Summer PURA programs is to support students researching at Hopkins with Hopkins researchers. Limited exceptions may be made with prior approval of HOUR staff.

What is required to apply?

• Basic online application including a brief (250 word max) and simplified description of your project to assist HOUR staff in identifying appropriate reviewers.
• Your one-page research resume  (see HOUR Tips: Research Resume Best Practices)
• Your project proposal (see HOUR tips: PURA Proposal Guidelines)
• Your Hopkins mentor/s (up to 2 mentors allowed) and their Hopkins email
• ALL TASKS MUST BE COMPLETED IN ORDER TO SUBMIT. This includes your mentor uploading their letter.

Can I submit if my mentor has not uploaded their letter/ completed their task?

No, we require ALL tasks be completed before a student can submit. Be sure to provide your mentor enough time to write their letter and get it uploaded. See Mentor FAQs for more info.

Can I apply to and or receive HOUR opportunities more than once?

Yes, you are encouraged to continue to apply to our programs throughout your undergraduate career at Hopkins. Projects evolve, interests change, and HOUR wants to encourage your exploration. In the case of “tied” review scores in an individual program cycle, preference will be given to students that have not previously received funding through HOUR programs.

Is there a formal presentation due at the end of the project?

Yes, all HOUR program recipients are expected to present their project at Fall DREAMS immediately after their summer award. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis after the recipient contacts the HOUR office about a conflict.

If I choose to accept a different program I applied to (whether internal or external to JHU) taking place during the same time frame as this program, can I defer this award to a future period (academic year or summer)?

No, we are not able to allow anyone selected for a specific cohort to defer to a future period. With limited funding available, this would not be fair to the applicants in those future cycles. All students are encouraged to apply to a future cycle of PURA or Summer PURA should you choose not to accept the award for any reason. Your new application would then go through the review cycle with all other applicants as a new submission with no preference given. You are welcome to resubmit your awarded proposal with any updates or changes you feel appropriate.

Would you like HOUR staff to review your application documents and provide feedback prior to submitting? Interested students may schedule 1 (and ONLY ONE) document review session per individual award program (per year) with HOUR staff. You may meet with either Tracy or Deborah; you may not meet with both for review of the same documents.

You MUST follow these steps before you schedule a meeting for document draft review:

1. Clearly name your document using your name or jhed and the type of document (example: john_lee_resume or jlee987_pura). Do not label as generically “resume” or “pura_proposal.”
2. Review the HOUR tips: PURA Proposal Guidelines and HOUR Tips: Research Resume Best Practices.
3. Run your document through spell check and grammar check, making corrections as recommended.
4. BEFORE scheduling a meeting with HOUR – have your mentor, the Writing Center, and/ or someone else you respect review your document and offer feedback.
5. Once the above steps are complete and you have a FINAL DRAFT:
   1. Email a copy of your document to [email protected] identifying who you plan to meet with (Tracy or Deborah). Your document MUST BE sent to us a minimum of 1 full business day (weekends do not count!) prior to your appointment time to allow us time to provide a thoughtful review!!
   2. Schedule your 1:1 appointment for feedback:

30-minute meeting with Tracy

30-minute meeting with Deborah

6. The last date to schedule a review is 5 days before the submission deadline. Review meetings scheduled between 1/27 and 2/1 will be declined.
7. You are welcome to request feedback in the form of a marked-up file emailed back to you, instead of scheduling a meeting. Note that we will honor these requests as time allows (we cannot guarantee we will have time).

How is funding distributed?

PURA and Summer PURA are paid to recipients as a single lump-sum fellowship payment.

What can the funding be used for?

PURA and Summer PURA are discretionary fellowship awards. Recipients may use the award funding as they deem appropriate with no required reporting of usage back to HOUR.

• Examples of usage are (but not limited to) living expenses (rent, utilities, food), personal travel, clothing, conference expenses, publication fees, computer/ software, project supplies, savings, anything.

What are the tax implications of this award?

• Fellowship payments are subject to all applicable payroll taxes. Questions and concerns should be directed to the University Tax Officeat [email protected].

Does this program or HOUR offer housing, related  expenses and/ or travel expenses associated with this summer award?

No, arranging and covering the expenses related with staying in Baltimore or anywhere else and/ or travel expenses related to your project are your responsibility.

The University offers limited dorm rooms and a database/ spreadsheet of rental sublets. Contact the university housing office for details. Upon request, HOUR is happy to provide a letter to the housing office attesting to your work at the university over the summer. It is up to the student to obtain and pay for their own housing and related living expenses during the summer.

Who can be a PURA mentor?

• A PURA mentor can be a faculty member, research associate, staff member, postdoc, or graduate student from any division of the university as well as the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) and the Lieber Institute. We acknowledge that in many cases the grad student or postdoc serves as the primary mentor for the undergraduate researchers. We respect this relationship and your support and guidance.
• If a graduate student or postdoc is serving as primary mentor, we encourage the undergraduate to also identify and request the professor/ PI for the research group provide a letter of support acknowledging that they are aware of the project and support it.

What should be included in my letter of support?

The letter should address:

• The strengths, skills, and experience the undergraduate has achieved that will enable them to successfully complete the proposed project.
• The amount of independence the student will have (a unique project conceived of by the student or a part of a larger project that they will be responsible for).
• Address your intent as a mentor including what support you will be providing (regular meetings, resources, other).

Note – All mentor letters must be uploaded before the application deadline. Your student will NOT be able to submit without your task being completed!

What are my responsibilities as a mentor?

We expect our program mentors to:

• Provide a support system for the undergraduate researcher to help them complete their project as proposed (whether successful or not).
• Meet with them regularly (on a schedule that works for both of you and not dictated by HOUR) to discuss problems and successes, each of which can be difficult to navigate in the research environment.
• In lab-based projects, provide access to equipment and supplies not otherwise available to undergraduates.

If my mentee is awarded a PURA or Summer PURA, how do they receive their funding?

PURA and Summer PURA undergraduate recipients are hired by HOUR as fellowship recipients and paid their award as a lump-sum fellowship payment. Any use of award funds for project expenses need to be arranged independently with the undergraduate award recipient.

HOUR staff and our undergraduate applicants are tremendously grateful to all university faculty, researchers and staff that serve as mentors for our undergraduate students. Your training, dedication, and support helps carry your fields of study further and grow the next generation of amazing researchers!

How do we select reviewers?

HOUR staff reviews each submission looking at: the proposal title, the proposal summary (requested in the application), as well as the mentor/s primary appointments and affiliations to gain basic understanding of the project. We then research university faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and staff to identify field specific or subject matter experts to serve as reviewers.

This is a very time-consuming process but allows us to make strong reviewer/ submission matches. These matches assure that each submission is evaluated by someone who can review in its area of study and provide constructive feedback.

Some examples:

• A student who is a dual degree candidate from WSE and Peabody with a creative proposal for a computer music-based project and mentored by a Peabody faculty might have 2 Peabody faculty identified as reviewers or 1 Peabody and 1 Computer Science faculty identified as reviewers.
• A student majoring in English, but on a premed track, working on a gastrointestinal cancer project at the med campus might have reviewers from Oncology and/ or Gastroenterology, but an English faculty would not be appropriate..
• A physics student writing a science fiction novel that references science fact might be reviewed by English or Writing Seminars faculty as well as a faculty in the related science area.

What is required of reviewers?

HOUR staff works diligently to not overtax our reviewers, limiting the number of submissions assigned to each reviewer. Reviewers utilize the same platform (SMApply) that applicants use. We do require constructive feedback from our reviewers so we can help develop stronger researchers and proposal writers. Reviewers are asked to rank and provide feedback on:

1. How well the proposal is written.
2. How viable the project is in general and for the undergraduate applicant.
3. Were the proposal requirements met and guidelines generally followed using HOUR tips: PURA Proposal Guidelines as reference.

HOUR staff and our undergraduate applicants are tremendously grateful to all university faculty, researchers and staff that serve as reviewers for HOUR programs. Your thoughtful and constructive feedback helps us strengthen the proposal writing and research skills of these already amazing undergraduate applicants!