Award
  • The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship award.
  • All applicants will get a VIP hour in the relaxation room sometime during the last three weeks of the spring 2024 semester.
Important Dates
  • Submissions for the 2024 award will open on March 18, 2023.
  • Applications are due on April 10, 2024, by the end of the day (11:59 pm CDT).
  • Winner notified by: April 12, 2024
Eligibility
  • All currently enrolled NDSU undergraduate students at any class level, and in any discipline.
  • Project must be completed by the application deadline.
  • Project must have been completed for an NDSU credit-bearing course or with NDSU faculty supervision (e.g. independent study or undergraduate research programs) between Jan. 1, 2023 and Mar. 31, 2024.
  • Project may be in any format or medium (e.g. research paper, poster, presentation, design project, video, or website).
  • Projects may be individual or group; however, applications for group projects are submitted and evaluated individually.
  • Projects in foreign languages will be accepted; however, all additional materials submitted must be in English.
  • Applicants must agree to confer a non-exclusive distribution license to NDSU Libraries in order to make the papers or projects, bibliographies, and essays publicly available in the NDSU Repository.
  • Information about the winning submission (such as name, academic major, project title, etc.) will also be included in NDSU Libraries promotional materials.
Application Requirements
  • Submission form (see bottom of page) Note: You will need to log into your NDUS Microsoft Office 365 account to access the submission form. 
  • Abstract or description of project (100 words or less)
  • Completed project (text document, image file, video file, or website URL) 
    • File types accepted: MS Word, PDF, .jpg, .mp4
  • Bibliography
  • Responses to four reflection prompts (100 words minimum each)
Reflection Response Requirements
  • Minimum of 100 words per response
  • We recommend that you type your responses in a separate document before beginning your submission, then copy and paste them into the appropriate boxes in the submission form.
  • Committee members will be looking for responses that clearly describe how you planned and pursued your research, including how you located and chose the library resources you used and how those resources contributed to the development of your project. In the project itself, the committee will be evaluating how you used the resources you discovered to enhance the quality of your research and to learn more about your subject. Please respond to the following questions as thoroughly as possible.
  • Reflection prompts:
    • How did you select your research topic or question? Did your topic or question change in any way during the research process?
    • How did interactions with librarians, your instructor(s), peers, and/or others influence the direction of your research?
    • How did you find the sources you used in your research? Which specific search tools or databases - library or otherwise - did you use? If you encountered any challenges while searching for sources, how did you overcome them?
    • Reflecting back on your research experience, is there anything you would do differently? Are there any resources or services the library could offer to better support student research?
Evaluation

Submissions (reflection prompt responses, paper/project, and bibliography) will be judged on how well they demonstrate the following:

  • Use of information and library resources, including but not limited to, printed and electronic resources, materials in all media, and guidance from a professor or librarian.
  • Ability to locate, select, evaluate, and synthesize library resources in support of the research paper or project.
  • Evidence of significant personal growth in methods of research and inquiry.
  • Clear and effective writing.
Submissions

Click here to submit all required information and to upload the required files. You will need to log into your NDUS Microsoft Office 365 account to access the submission form.

Previous Award Winners

Previous Undergraduate Research Award winners' projects can be found in the NDSU Repository.