Welcome from the Director
As we reflect on 2025-2026, the Office of Undergraduate Research is grateful for the support of campus and our partners as they help us achieve our mission of making research and creative scholarship something that students can engage in. The OUR team was able to impact hundreds of students on campus and support a wide variety of research and creative scholarship endeavors.
We are continually impressed by the applications for student-focused projects we receive. The Group Creative Research by Undergraduates (GCRU) had another amazing year, with projects spanning fall through summer engaging students across campus on innovative research. This funding program seeks applications at the end of summer/beginning of fall for the current academic and summer terms. The ICRU Fellows continue their tradition of excellence in research and creative scholarship. As our programs continue to grow, we look forward to rising to meet their needs.
Our staff has been busy as well; we are continually working to grow our workshop programming and find better ways to serve our community. This past year, we began supporting students with poster printing needs and we look forward to continuing that in the current year.
The undergraduate research festivals are growing every year; in 2025-2026, both the fall and spring undergraduate research festivals had great engagement. We held SURF in the IMU Main Lounge Ballroom and are working to see how to best run our spring program this year. The IMU was a great venue and our presenters did an amazing job of communicating their research to a large audience.
We appreciate your support and the support of the OVPR in pursuing our mission to support undergraduate research in all its forms on campus.
-Tawny LB Tibbits, PhD
Director
OUR ICRU and GCRU Fellowship Program
The Office of Undergraduate Research Fellows Program has provided funding to nearly 3000 students—amounting to over $6.5 million directly to students since 2010—to promote undergraduate engagement in research and creative projects.
The program allows current University of Iowa undergraduates in any discipline to work with UI faculty or Professional & Scientific staff mentors on a specific project during the academic year and/or summer.
Scholarship funding for selected applications is in the amount of $2,500 (for about 8–10 hours of work per week) for the academic year or $3,000 (for about 15–20 hours/week of work for 10 weeks) during the summer.
389
59
$705,000
Financial Awards
$34,249
Klaertje Hesselink at the 2025 meeting of AlChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) in Boston, Massachusetts
$15,321
I was able to present my work from my summer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory where I focused on using magnetic induction heating for reactive carbon capture. I had a great time during the poster competition and won first place in the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering subdivision. I have attended this conference for the past three years and I learn so much each time. It was a great experience for me to connect with other professionals in the field and learn more about the advances in chemical engineering research.
–Klaertje Hesselink
Student Engagement
OUR provides multiple opportunities for students to present their research including: Fall Undergraduate Research Festival, Research on the Capitol, Quick Pitch Challenge, Spring Undergraduate Research Festival, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference.
| Event | Presenters |
|---|---|
| Summer Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC 2026) | 159 |
| Fall Undergraduate Research Festival (FURF 2025) | 153 |
| Research on the Capitol | 27 |
| Quick Pitch Challenge | 5 |
| Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF 2026) | 187 |
531
59
1,963
Recognition Awards
Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award (EURA)
These awards recognize outstanding accomplishments in scholarly investigation, artistic creation, or performance by an undergraduate student. EURA awardees receive an OUR Fellowship for their choice of the upcoming summer or academic year, a travel scholarship, and campus-wide recognition.
Brooke Paasch
Political Science & International Relations
Minor in German and Economics with a Political Risk Analysis Certificate
Nina Osborne
Geographical and Sustainability Science (GIS track) and Environmental Policy and Planning (Policy track)
Distinguished Mentor Award (DMA)
To recognize the work that mentors put in to make their student's experiences successful, OUR created the Distinguished Mentor Award (DMA). All faculty and staff who mentor students in research, scholarly, or creative work are eligible for nomination. Students are invited to nominate their faculty research mentor as a huge "Thank you!" for the time and talent their mentors have given.
Thomas Mira y Lopez
Bingbing Zhang, Ph.D.
Student Leadership
OUR Student Ambassadors
The OUR Ambassadors are a group of UI undergraduates who are involved in research and creative work on campus. They assist with campus recruiting and outreach, event planning, and other ways to promote undergraduate involvement.
OUR Ambassador Led Programming
The Entering Research Symposium was created for students by students to give UI undergraduates a space to learn about undergraduate research.
How to Build a Poster Workshops provide undergraduates with a space where they can get guidance from their peers about how to build a poster, receive tips and tricks, and workshop time for an ambassador to look over their poster.
Fall in Love with Research was a stop and talk opportunity on T. Anne Cleary on Valentine's Day. Ambassadors were handing out candy and hot cocoa talking about why they fell in love with research and how students walking past could get involved.
Campus Collaborators and Support
OUR partners with a variety of offices on campus to support research in distinct disciplinary areas. These partners are excited to collaborate with projects and provide resources to help with the success of the work.
Office of the Vice President for Research
- OUR is a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Research, which supports research and creative scholarship at the University of Iowa. Their continued support allows us to be successful in our mission to increase opportunities and support for students to be engaged in research.
- The Office of the Provost provides academic leadership to the University and provides funding for student awards through OUR. Its fundamental mission is to champion innovation and excellence in teaching, research, creative production, and service. Their continued support is instrumental in keeping our impact strong and wide ranging on campus.
The Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence
- The Csomay Center supports research and opportunities that promote optimal aging and quality of life for all older adults and their caregivers.
Office of Community Engagement
- The Office of Community Engagement serves as a bridge between campus and community, supporting students, faculty and staff who seek to incorporate community partners into their research and course projects.
Office of Sustainability and the Environment
- The Office of Sustainability and the Environment supports research that creates and/or advances sustainability research through collaborative and interdisciplinary work.
- The DeLTA Center is an interdisciplinary research community at the University of Iowa dedicated to exploring the processes of learning and development by promoting interactions between basic and applied researchers.