Internal Award
US Citizenship Not Required

This award is for full-time, currently enrolled Northeastern university undergraduates working as a group. It is open to undergraduates from all years and majors, but would be a particularly good fit for groups whose members collectively combine an understanding of research and creative methods in their field(s) with a dedication to meaningful, respectful, and innovative community engagement.

While in classes, students should generally not devote more than 20 hours per week to a research or creative project.

Proposals are evaluated on their overall quality, relevant experience and preparation of the team members, demonstrated alignment with community need and evidence of genuine community engagement, and feasibility of the proposed research methodology and service activity.

Groups offered this award receive a grant of up to $1,000 to support their work over the course of the academic year. They also receive intensive mentoring from the staff and Faculty Fellows of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Funds can be used for project equipment and supplies, project events, and project-related travel costs within the Boston area.

Groups may apply to continue their projects in future academic years.

Applications can be submitted via Northeastern’s Internal Fellowships Portal and consist of several parts:

• an online form which collects your basic biographical and project information;
• a 1-3 page project proposal, uploaded as a PDF;
• a project timeline, uploaded as a PDF;
• an itemized project budget, uploaded as a PDF;
• a team list, uploaded as an Excel file; and
• an annotated bibliography, uploaded as PDF.

The project proposal should clearly and concisely describe the following:

• Background: Describe the challenge or issue area your project will address. Provide context for your project. Identify the questions that arise from this challenge: what does your project intend to understand, engage with, discover, create, invent, address?
• Significance: Why is the project is important, from a service perspective, a research perspective and a personal perspective (for your growth and that of your peers)? Address what new information, scholarship, knowledge, or mode of practice is expected to result from the project. How will the project build a bridge between the realm of research and the realm of action?
• Community Partners: Which organization or community partners does your group plan to work with? Describe any contact or prior relationship you have with the community partner, if applicable.
• Project Personnel: The people you are working with and how their talents will contribute to project completion or what types of attributes you are seeking in new members.
• Methodology: The theory and techniques on which your project will rely, as well as a specific course of action for carrying the project through to completion.
• Anticipated challenges and how you will overcome them.
• Ethics: Reflect on the ethical implications of advocating for social change within communities and/or around issues outside of your own lived experience. How do you plan to do your work responsibly, respectfully, and on a foundation of genuine community engagement?
• Describe the resources required for project planning and implementation (thinking beyond finances) and how you might access these.
• Outcomes and Dissemination: Anticipated outcomes or products of this project and your plan to share your results with your partner organization, within the Northeastern community, and more broadly. Bridge-Builder recipients should plan to present their projects at RISE and should use this section of the application to consider other avenues for sharing.
• Evaluation: The plan that will be used to evaluate the project’s outcomes. The plan should specify the criteria that will be used to measure the success and impact of the project. Include both qualitative and quantitative criteria, if possible.

The following components are uploaded separately:

• Timeline: A detailed timeline of the steps necessary to implement the project over the course of the academic year. Prepare the timeline on a separate page (not counted toward the 1-3 page limit for your narrative proposal).
• Budget: A preliminary itemized budget for up to $1,000. Prepare the budget on a separate page (not counted toward the 1-3 page limit for your narrative proposal).
• Project Personnel: Please share names (first, last) and emails (official Northeastern) of those who will be participating in an Excel document. Does not count towards page limit.
• Annotated Bibliography of at Least Four Discipline Relevant Peer-Reviewed Articles or Books (1 page): Include any works cited in the proposal as well as other key sources. An annotated bibliography provides a brief synopsis of each listed work, also explaining its relevance and applicability to your project and clarifying the work’s positioning within your field of inquiry or creativity.