ETSU students looking to earn extra money this semester can do so thanks to the many research programs the university hosts.

Richard Ignace

“Many faculty have their own funding,” ETSU professor Richard Ignace said. “They win their grants from a variety of agencies, or they have money through their department in some way. So they’re looking to recruit undergraduate students to work with them on projects, and they’re able to pay them.”

Ignace said there are a number of different grant programs to help undergraduate researchers.

“They are open to students of any major, so it’s all-inclusive in that respect,” Ignace said.

However, not all of the programs provide funding for students.

“For example we have student-faculty collaborative grants,” Ignace said. “And the student-faculty collaborative grants really exist to offset the cost of doing research, but they would never pay a student.”

There are two research programs that offer payment to students during the summer.

“We have what I call the ETSU traditional fellowship,” Ignace said. “This has been around for over ten years. This is kind of like the student faculty collaborative grant money, but that $500 is to help cover cost of things.”

To participate in the program, the student is required to sign up for at least one credit hour of the summer session.

“The second fellowship is something called Society Fellowship,” Ignace said. “I was able to land some external funding. We plan to offer three of those … Whereas the traditional ones are for any topic any major, the society ones are also any topic, any major, except they have to address the themes of the granting agency.”

Ignace said that research projects will not only give students extra money, but it will benefit them as well.

“One thing that research has been shown to accomplish for students is that it helps them become better acquainted with the culture of the discipline,” he said. “They begin to understand the practices of the discipline in an applied way, and many times it has been valuable when a student gets placed in a job or grad school. … They feel a little closer to the institution, a little closer to the department and better about their major.”

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