FAQs

Finding a VUSRP faculty mentor is primarily the student’s responsibility. There are a number of steps an student can take to identify a research mentor/adviser.

Many potential applicants are already working with a faculty member as a research assistant, or in the context of an independent study, directed research, or honors project. In many cases, this faculty member would make an ideal VUSRP mentor as well as an Immersion Vanderbilt faculty adviser.

The Immersion portal opportunities database and many departments (via webpages or bulletin boards) list research opportunities for undergraduates. The faculty offering such opportunities are good candidates to serve as VUSRP advisers. If such listings of opportunities are not readily available, it is worth inquiring in the relevant department’s main office about whether such opportunities exist.

Several student/faculty networking events are hosted on campus and are designed to connect students with faculty researchers. Examples include the SIM Match Day and Explorations in Research. The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Fair is another effective means to learn which faculty, laps, and offices provide opportunities for student researchers.

Perhaps the most common method of finding an mentor (or connecting with a faculty member generally) is through word of mouth and a student’s own initiative. Talk with your peers about which faculty are working with students, what they are working on, what it is like to work with those faculty members, etc. Consider speaking to professors you know in the department that interests you and they will often be able to link you with their colleagues. They may even be interested in having you work with them. Make appointments to discuss your research interests with faculty whose research appeals to you.

Full-time Vanderbilt University faculty, including faculty in the graduate and professional schools, are eligible to serve as VUSRP mentors.

The VUSRP program requires that students and faculty advisers engage in 10-weeks of highly collaborative, full-time research over the summer. Research may occur on campus or in another research and/or field setting.

If a faculty adviser has a travel component built into the student's summer experience that correlates with the VUSRP project, students can travel to an off-campus location. Examples of permitted research/field location travel include:

• Engaging in research at faculty adviser's secondary research lab abroad
• Traveling for a presentation highlighting faculty and student VUSRP research

Travel is only permitted to university-sponsored locations.

All the information needed to apply for a VUSRP stipend is available through the VUSRP website. Although it is strongly recommended to attend the VUSRP information session, attendance is not required to apply. The primary purpose of the meeting is to allow potential applicants to have their questions answered about the program. All potential applicants are invited to attend and a recording of the info session is made available in the Immersion portal.

Students are always welcome to direct questions to immersion@vanderbilt.edu.

Absolutely! All applications will be submitted through the InfoReady Review portal, which students access with their VUnetID and password. Students are responsible for submitting their application, including ensuring the faculty mentor is aware of the deadline to submit their portion after the student portion is complete. Both sections must be submitted by the application deadline.

The VUSRP program requires that students and faculty mentors engage in 10-weeks of highly collaborative, full-time research over the summer. The research must take place on campus or in another research and/or field setting. VUSRP students are not permitted to enroll in concurrent coursework. The official dates generally coincide with Vanderbilt’s full summer session. Therefore, enrollment in courses during the 10-weeks of full-time research is not permitted.

If you are interested in pursuing full-time research this summer and think you can submit a strong application, then you should definitely apply. Each year, the committee receives a number of applications from rising sophomores, and some of these applications are funded. In order to be successful, it is essential that the applicant has both a well-articulated research plan and a strong GPA.

Vanderbilt University faculty may mentor up to two applications per competition.

You can propose to continue ongoing research for your VUSRP application, as long as you make clear in your application what you plan to accomplish on your research project during your summer experience. Some VUSRP students propose projects for the summer that are new for them and their adviser and are intended to be self-contained within the summer research time frame. Such proposals, when well thought-out and strong, may also be funded.

Applications proposing ongoing projects are likely to be viewed more favorably if it is made evident to the committee that the summer research will allow the student to pursue a project or thesis that is more meaningful and substantial than would be the case without the proposed summer activities.

The VUSRP application is intentionally kept brief. Submitting materials beyond those explicitly requested on the application (i.e., the application itself and the Faculty Adviser Information and Acknowledgment form) may be interpreted by members of the review committee to be an attempt to gain an unfair advantage over other applicants. In cases in which the applicant or adviser would like to call attention to special or extenuating circumstances around the application, they should contact immersion@vanderbilt.edu to discuss the issue and to determine the best way of fairly communicating this information to the committee.

It depends. The official dates of the program coincide with Vanderbilt’s full summer session. For any number of reasons, these exact dates may pose problems for students, who might want to start the program late, end it early, or take some time off in the middle. Shifting participation dates in the program up to a week from the official dates is often possible without causing disruption, as long as the student discusses deviations with their faculty adviser. Arrangements should be made to ensure that VUSRP students and faculty advisers engage in full-time research on-campus or in another research and/or field setting in person for 10-weeks over the course of the summer (e.g, by starting the program early or ending late).

Substantial deviations (more than one week) from the official dates must be approved in writing by a student’s faculty adviser and sent to immersion@vanderbilt.edu. Students should also discuss substantial deviations in their application.

The stipend is intended to defray students’ living expenses (including room and board) so they can work on their research. The program does not offer on-campus housing nor does it connect students with off-campus housing options. In the summer, suitable sublets are readily available. In mid-April, after the awards are announced, there will be an orientation meeting for all of the current year's VUSRP students. Students often use this meeting to plan summer housing with one another. For further assistance, contact the Office of Housing and Residential Experience for possible on-campus summer housing options.

No. The stipend represents the only funds associated with VUSRP. If your proposed project requires research funding, it is expected that these funds will be provided by your faculty adviser using their research funds.

In 2022, the Office of the Provost awarded to VUSRP faculty mentors a VUSRP research award. We are pleased to announce this award will be offered again in 2023. More information can be found in the InfoReady application portal.

The VUSRP award is an undergraduate stipend processed through the Office of Student Financial Aid. It is not directly associated with any effort through payroll. The VUSRP award is considered to be a service-free stipend, and thus, it is not reported to the IRS. VUSRP students will not receive a W-2 from Vanderbilt reflecting this income.

There is an exception for international students. The International Tax Office can provide tax information to international students. We recommend reaching out to them prior to accepting the VUSRP award.

Students can expect to receive the VUSRP fund only one time. Students can expect to receive only one funded experience per summer or per semester, although multiple awards over the four years are possible. For more information about funding opportunities, students are encouraged to browse the Undergraduate Funding Opportunities website. Questions can be directed to immersion@vanderbilt.edu.