Student Eligibility for ACURA: 

  • Students may undertake multiple ACURA projects during a single cycle (two or three semesters upon receiving authorization from the ACURA coordinator
  • Must be a student enrolled at and attending PSU Abington (UP students are not eligible)
  • Must commit to working for one academic year (Fall-Spring) or 3 semesters (Spring-Fall-Spring)
  • Must participate in the Spring ACURA Poster Fair after 2 or 3 semesters

How to Start an ACURA Project

Step 1: Describe Your Research Project to Students 

Highlight your project and create interest among students, who can find this information on the ACURA webpage. 

Step 2: Two-Semester or Three-Semester Projects? 

You must decide if the project will be a two-semester course bearing three credits or a three-semester course bearing four credits. You need to register each student for an ACURA course for each semester of the project. Faculty will also determine if the course is a 200-level or 400-level course and will assign a grade at the end of each semester. 

Graded Course (e.g., Soc 294, EE 494) 

  • Two-semester option: Fall (1 credit) + Spring (2 credits)
  • Three-semester option: Spring (1 credit) + Fall (1 credit) + Spring (2 credits) 

Step 3: Connect with Students 

Students may contact faculty mentors if they are interested in projects they find on the ACURA webpage. You may also discuss your project in class, on the student email list, or attend the ACURA Information Session to recruit students. Students may also initiate a research or creative project and contact faculty to mentor their project. 

Step 4: Discuss Expectations with Students 

You will establish a one-to-one mentorship and hold weekly/bi-weekly meetings during the semester with the student or students. You should clearly discuss the syllabus and expectations. 

Step 5: Register Students for an ACURA course 

You will receive the student registration form from the ACURA coordinator. 

Step 6: Prepare for the ACURA Fair 

All ACURA students are expected to participate in the ACURA Fair. This includes attending the ACURA poster workshop, preparing the poster, presenting it at the fair, and preparing the recorded introduction for the ACURA Online Platform. 

Funding 

ACURA provides funding for faculty to support this work. The number of students you are working with determines the level of funding. Expenditures should be directly related to the research project. 

Eligible Items: 

  • Chemicals and consumables for the sciences
  • Transcription fees
  • Fees for surveys and interviews
  • Student travel to conferences
  • Books, libraries, archives, databases, etc.
  • Lab supplies, batteries, flash drives 

Non-eligible items for purchase: 

  • Electronics like iPads, cell phones, computers 

Submit a purchase request to the ACURA coordinator for prior approval before making any purchase. Faculty with purchasing cards may order independently after approval but MUST submit receipts as soon as they are available. 

When filing for travel reimbursement reports that include meals paid for the students by a faculty member, an itemized receipt for each meal is required. This is not a simple receipt, but an itemized receipt from the restaurant. If a faculty member is unable to provide an itemized receipt, then a lost receipt form needs to be completed for each meal. Each expense will need a detailed explanation and a list of attendees. 

Forms 

ACURA Research Project Form
Faculty should submit a brief (>100 words) description of the project. This should only describe the general nature of the project and it will be posted on the ACURA website and will help in recruiting students. 

ACURA Student Register Form
Faculty members need to submit student details to the ACURA coordinator for EACH semester so that a student can be registered for a special topics course. Commonly, the fall semester is 1 credit, and the spring semester is 2 credits.

If a student begins a 3-semester project in the spring, then registration for spring is 1 credit. 
 

Purchase Request Form 

Student Travel Form 


 

Good to Know Information

Penn State will enforce a charge for any student who registers for more than 19 credits per semester. Students may choose to do a project without receiving course credit. This should be discussed with the student and the faculty mentor, and the faculty mentor can register the student with zero credits. 

Faculty-mentored research-related activities that are not registered for credit but require student participation may be included, and students are given a presentation slot at the spring fair. Faculty mentors should register students for projects and indicate zero credits. 

All ACURA students will be grouped in the "ACURA" student group and given the same rights and privileges as those students registered for credit, including the invitation to present at the poster fair. 

Funding is available to support undergraduate students presenting their research at conferences. You'll need to have prior approval before any travel arrangements are made.

Steps to Request Funding:

  1. Submission of Student Travel Form:
    1. The faculty member or supervisor will complete the Student Travel Form and submit it to the ACURA Coordinator.
  2. Request for Additional Penn State Funding (if needed):
    1. If additional funding beyond the ACURA allocation is required, the ACURA Coordinator will inform the faculty mentor to submit an Undergraduate Research Conference Presentation Support request to the Penn State Office of Undergraduate Education.

Undergraduate Research Conference Presentation Support

  1. Apply here
  2. The online application for Undergraduate Research Conference Travel Support requires you to submit contact information associated with three different steps in the application process. The online system automatically generates emails requesting action from individuals indicated on the application. It is very important this information is entered correctly. Please use ONLY the university assigned email address (abc##@psu.edu). Do not use aliases!
    1. Faculty supervisor: this contact person is responsible for submitting a letter of support. An email will be generated instructing your mentor to work in the InfoReady system to add this to your application materials.
    2. Approval #1: Division Head Email
    3. Approval #2: Dr. Yi Yang ([email protected])
       

To purchase software (either locally installed or online) with ACURA funding, you must first obtain approval from Penn State OIT. This approval process can take several weeks.

  1. Submit a Software Request
  2. Check for Existing Approval:
    Under the PREPARE section, search to see if the software you need is preapproved and available at Penn State.
  3. If Not Approved:
    If the software is not approved, proceed to the ROUTE section to initiate the purchasing request. Complete the Software Request Form to begin the approval process.
  4. Questions or Assistance
    For further assistance with the software purchasing process, please contact [email protected].
     

Gift cards purchased with ACURA funding for research purposes must not exceed a maximum value of $99 per card, in accordance with Penn State's Accounting Operations Policy FN10.

  1. Students attend the ACURA Information Session during the spring semester.
  2. Students send their posters and video recordings to their mentors for feedback and review.
  3. Finalized poster files and video recordings are due by April 1. Mentors are responsible for submitting these materials using the upload link provided by the ACURA Coordinator.
  4. Two weeks before the ACURA Fair, the ACURA Coordinator will begin recruiting judges. Students are expected to coordinate meeting times with their assigned judges on the day before the fair.
  5. Students will pick up their printed posters and set them up at the Rec Center before the judging session.
  6. Judges will submit their evaluation results to the ACURA Coordinator.
  7. Judging results will be announced.