Academic Resources for Students

The role of the Office of the Provost is to oversee and implement the University's academic mission. Thus, as is the case throughout the University, SMU's students are at the heart of the mission of the Provost's Office. This page highlights some of the academic resources for students.

• Competitive Fellowships and Awards
  
  The Office of National Fellowships and Awards supports students in seeking competitive fellowships and awards, such as Marshall, Fulbright, Mitchell, Truman, Rhodes, Goldwater, and others.
  
  
• Undergraduate Research Opportunities
  
  Undergraduate research can take many forms, and opportunities are available in all areas of study and throughout a student's undergraduate career. Examples include: working with a professor on his or her field or laboratory research; independent studies consisting of original research; competitive fellowships that culminate in presentation at conferences, and many others. Specific programs at SMU include the following:
  
  
  • Big iDeas
    In 2008, the Provost initiated Big iDeas, a program that awards grants of up to $5,000 to interdisciplinary teams of students who have submitted successful proposals for addressing a complex problem in the Dallas metropolitan area. The grants are awarded through a panel review process convened by the Provost, and recipients report on their research proposals and results to the wider SMU community.
    
    You can view previous Big iDea student research proposals that received grants, as well as their updates and related documents, in the Big iDeas Student Research digital collection.
    
    
  
  
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant Program
    Faculty members in all colleges that teach undergraduate students (Dedman College, Meadows School of the Arts, the School of Engineering and the Cox School of Business) can apply for a stipend to support an undergraduate research assistant in a particular research project. Within the past year, students have received $3000 stipends to work as a URA in connection with professors’ research in engineering, anthropology, geology and psychology.
    
    
  
  
  • Tower Research Fellowships
    The John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies offers several research fellowships to SMU undergraduate students to pursue collaborative work in politics and government. The undergraduate fellows work closely with faculty in developing a research project resulting in publication or a final paper presented at a professional meeting or before a faculty committee.
    
    
  
  
  • National Science Foundation and Undergraduate Fellowships
    In various departments, ranging from anthropology to physics, SMU students have received fellowships to work with or under the supervision of professors with the support of funding from the National Science Foundation.

Click Here to learn more about other SMU Undergraduate Research Opportunities.