Hesburgh Libraries and the Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) award the annual Undergraduate Library Research Award (ULRA) to undergraduate students whose work demonstrates the highest levels of scholarship and information literacy. Established in 2010 to promote intellectual discovery and the advancement of lifelong learning, the ULRA recognizes undergraduates who demonstrate excellent research skills that utilize a breadth of library resources, collections, and services for their scholarly and creative projects. Research projects are evaluated by teaching faculty and members of theULRA selection committee. Submission window from March 13 - April 13
The contest is open to all currently enrolled undergraduate students not already possessing a baccalaureate degree, and whose research/projects meets the following requirements:
- Research/projects should be completed for a credit-bearing course or supervised research project sometime during the current academic cycle (Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters).
- Research/projects must integrate library research.
- Research/projects and accompanying essay may be in any electronic format and must be submitted through the online application portal.
- Research/projects must be recommended in writing by a project advisor, thesis advisor, or course instructor.
- Research/projects may be completed in any medium (e.g., paper, video, painting, photograph, web site, mobile application, etc.). However, all projects must be submitted online for consideration. Therefore, an electronic version of the project must be available for submission (e.g., PDF for paper, MP4 for video, JPG/TIFF for a painting or photograph, URL for web site, etc.).
- Foreign-language research/projects are eligible. However, the application essay must be written in English.
- Research/projects completed by an individual or group are eligible. However, awards are preesnted to individuals, not to a group. Therefore, each group member must submit a separate essay outlining not only his/her use of library resources, but his/her specific contribution to the group project. A separate letter of recommendation for each group member is also required.
Winners are awarded a cash prize, and have both their winning project and a recorded 3-5 minute lightning talk preserved in CurateND, Notre Dame's digital institutional repository.