Deans' Undergraduate Research Fund (DURF)

The Deans' Undergraduate Research Fund (DURF) awards funding to undergraduates at NYU Shanghai for summer research in any field of study. The DURF broadly defines research as scholarly or artistic activities that lead to the production of new knowledge; to increased problem-solving capabilities, including design and analysis; to original, critical or historical theory and interpretation; or to the production of art or artistic performance. Students interested in any form of research may apply. Students may apply to do a project independently or apply with no more than 2 other students for a group project. 

Funding Amounts 

Eligibility and Application Instructions

Faculty Mentor Commitments

Funding Amounts
Each selected student (regardless of whether they are working on their own or in a group) will individually receive a 6,000 RMB stipend, disbursed in two allotments. 3,000 RMB will be provided at the beginning of the approved project period and the remaining 3,000 RMB will be provided after successful submission of the project evaluation. The funding is subject to all applicable taxes and does not affect financial aid. There is no additional funding available to reimburse project expenses. All project implementation expenses are expected to be drawn from the stipend.

Eligibility
NYU Shanghai students are eligible to apply if they satisfy all of the below requirements:

  • Will not be graduating in spring or summer 2025
  • Will not undertake an internship or job in summer 2025
  • Have secured a Faculty Mentor to supervise the project. Faculty Mentors can mentor no more than two DURF projects and no more than four DURF students overall during the summer. Current tenured, tenure-track, and full-time continuing contract professors from the NYU Global Network can serve as DURF Faculty Mentors. Interested applicants should contact potential Faculty Mentors well in advance of the application deadline (e.g. at least one month) to allow sufficient time for Faculty Mentor feedback on the project proposal.​

Application Instructions
Deadline: March 16, 2025, 11:59 PM China Standard Time (CST). Decisions will be announced before the end of April 2025. 

There are two components to the application. You will need to: 

  • Ask your Faculty Mentor to submit the Faculty Mentor Endorsement Form by the deadline. ​​We strongly recommend that you thoroughly communicate with your Faculty Mentor about your proposal details well in advance of submitting your application.
  • Fill out the Student Application Form by the deadline. You will be asked to upload your transcript and proposal in the form. Most students should submit proposals following the General Proposal Instructions. For students who wish to work in the Arts and Creative Humanities, the Proposal Instructions for Arts and Creative Humanities Topics are most appropriate. See the detailed guidelines for both kinds of proposals below. If working in a group, each group member must submit an individual application form.

You may wish to review notes from the DURF Information Session where previous DURF recipients and Faculty Mentors shared their advice. Any questions may be directed to shanghai.durf@nyu.edu. 

The Commitments of a Faculty Mentor are to:

  • Give feedback to the student(s) on their DURF research proposal, assess the student(s)’ research plan, and submit the Faculty Mentor Endorsement Form by March 16, 2025, 11:59 PM China Standard Time.
  • If the DURF is awarded and the student's research involves human subjects, the Faculty Mentor should apply for Institutional Review Board (IRB) review on behalf of the student(s) before the research is initiated. The IRB requires Faculty Mentors to apply to the Board as Principal Investigators as students cannot apply on their own. Please note that for human subjects research, the IRB approval must be secured before the first stipend allotment is disbursed and no later than June 15, 2025. If the approval has not been secured by June 15, the student forfeits the DURF.
  • Complete a brief Evaluation Form at the end of the DURF Project evaluating the quality of the student’s project execution and the project outcome. 
 
General Proposal Instructions

Writing a research proposal will help you clarify your project and will give you valuable experience for any proposal writing that you may do beyond NYU Shanghai. Your application is your chance to tell us about your proposed research, its significance, and how well you are prepared to undertake such a project. Make certain that the proposal is in your words – not your professor’s words! Your proposal may be up to three single-spaced pages in length. We recommend using a 12-point serif font (such as Times New Roman). 

The proposal should include the following sections in order:

  • Title: At the top of the first page write your name(s) and project title. Do not include a cover sheet or separate title page.
  • Abstract: A summary of your research question and your project design. Researchers typically write the abstract after they have finished writing the rest of the proposal. Include it as the first section on the first page of your proposal.
  • Research Question and Significance: What is the question that you want to explore in your research and why is it an interesting and important question? In thinking about the significance, try to take the position of an educated newspaper reader. In a newspaper article about your research, how would you explain the importance of your project? Please be sure to put this information at the start of the paragraph.
  • Project Design and Feasibility: How will you go about exploring your research question? What will be your methods and milestones? How will this research fit into your summer schedule? How will you find the time necessary to do the research? This section allows you to use discipline-specific language to explain the details of your project. 
    • Include a week-by-week work timeline indicating your specific progress goals throughout the summer
    • If your project will have expenses, include a clear budget with detailed expense items and explanations of how they are calculated. Budgets that require extensive travel or large data sets are discouraged.
  • Background: What courses or work experiences have prepared you to undertake this project?
  • Group Partnership Plan (if applicable): If more than one student is applying for the same project, describe in detail why it is necessary to work as a group. How will you organize the work and assign roles and responsibilities? How will you communicate and keep each other accountable and on track if you are in different locations? How do your skills and backgrounds complement each other?
  • Feedback and Evaluation: Who will provide feedback on and evaluate your project and according to what schedule and what criteria?
  • Dissemination of Knowledge: How will you share the results of your project? What form will your findings take? We require DURF recipients to present at the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Notes and Tips:

  • Work with your Faculty Mentor on your proposal and get their feedback and advice before submitting the final version.
  • For human subjects research, Institutional Review Board approval must be secured before the first stipend allotment is disbursed and no later than June 15, 2025. If the approval has not been secured by June 15, you will forfeit the DURF.
  • Remember to spell check! Your proposal should be a reflection of your commitment to the project.
Proposal Instructions for Arts and Creative Humanities Topics

Your proposal should place your project in a larger creative context while providing specific details about your objectives, process and product, as well as the anticipated impact on your development. A typical problem is to offer too broad a discussion and too much personal background. The directions below are intended to help you organize your proposal and present your information in a way that balances significance and detail and meets the requirements of grant-giving funders, including the DURF.

The proposal may be up to three single-spaced pages in length. We recommend using a 12-point serif font (such as Times New Roman). It should include the following sections in order:

  • Title: At the top of the first page write your name(s) and project title. Do not include a cover sheet or separate title page.
  • Abstract: The Abstract is a brief but specific statement of the project’s objectives, methods, and impact, as well as what you hope to accomplish, using what means and resources, and why the project is important to you, your field, and to the larger world.
  • Project Narrative: The project narrative is a detailed discussion of your proposed project, including the objectives, the methods you plan to use, and how your project relates and contributes to the particular creative field(s). Below are some questions to help you get started:
  1. What makes your project original?
  2. Why is it important that you undertake this project? What courses or experiences have prepared you to undertake this project?
  3. Objective or goal: What do you want to achieve?
  4. Conceptual approach: How are you approaching this project?
  5. Issues: What concern, problem, or need will the work address?
  6. Approach: What medium and genre will you be using and why are they appropriate for this work?
  7. Vision: What is your vision for the final project?

You should also describe how the proposed work fits into and advances the field’s current creative context and conversation. For example:

  1. What are the sources of inspiration for this project?
  2. How does it build on or differ from past or current work by others in the field and/or related fields?
  3. In what specific ways will this work advance the current creative context and conversation?
     
  • Project Process: Describe the process involved with the project.
  1. How do you plan to accomplish the project? If more than one student is applying for the same project, describe why it is necessary to work as a group. How you will organize the work and assign roles and responsibilities? How will you communicate and keep each other accountable and on track if you are in different locations? How do your skills and backgrounds complement each other?
  2. Provide a week-by-week work timeline and include the details below:
    --Pre-production research
    --Production schedule itemizing tasks and allocating time. Include who will provide feedback on and evaluate your project and according to what schedule and what criteria.
    --Post-production, if applicable​
  3. Provide a clear budget with detailed expenses. Budgets that require extensive travel or large data sets are discouraged.
  • Background: What courses or work experiences have prepared you to undertake this project?
  • Feedback and Evaluation: Who will provide feedback on and evaluate your project and according to what schedule and what criteria?
  • Outcomes: Outline the outcomes of your project. Here are some questions to think about and address:
    • Benefit to your craft: How will this project/product enhance your interests and skills, directions and opportunities for further work
    • Exhibition/Presentation: How, where, and when do you plan to present your work? If no additional exhibition is planned, how will you disseminate the knowledge gained from the project? We require DURF recipients to present at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. ​
  • Supporting Materials: Please include some supporting materials to clarify the proposal. These include prior art or creative work; links to online documentation; music compositions; sketches of proposed work; preliminary research; archive information, etc.

Notes and Tips:

  • Work with your Faculty Mentor on your proposal and get your Mentor's feedback and advice before submitting the final version.
  • For human subjects research, Institutional Review Board approval must be secured before the first stipend allotment is disbursed and no later than June 15, 2025. If the approval has not been secured by June 15, the student forfeits the DURF.
  • Remember to spell check! Your proposal should be a reflection of your commitment to the project.
Frequently Asked Questions

1. Will DURF provide housing for students who want to stay in Shanghai this summer?

DURF does not provide housing. If you wish to stay in NYU Shanghai housing for the summer, please contact the Office for Residential Life about the summer housing application process and housing rates.
 
2. Can a non-NYU Shanghai faculty be the Faculty Mentor for my DURF research?

Tenured, tenure-track, and full-time continuing contract professors in the NYU Global Network can serve as Faculty Mentors for students' DURF research. Please note that a faculty mentor should oversee no more than two DURF projects, and no more than four DURF students, during the summer. 

Advice from Past DURF Students

Below are tips from previous DURF recipients about successfully carrying out a DURF project. 

Time Management

  1. Set a fixed period of time each day to work.
  2. Things don't always go as planned. Leave buffer time for unexpected events such as IRB applications, procurement issues, and other logistics. Meanwhile, establish some back-up plans in case things don't develop in the direction you expect.
  3. Make any necessary changes to your research plan as early as possible.
  4. Set smaller and more specific goals leading up to the larger research goal.
  5. Learn how to balance your time between solving various problems so that you can put most of your effort on the most pressing and important ones.

Tips for effective meetings and communication

  1. Maintain a meeting agenda sheet which all team members update. Hold team meetings every week to get updates and discuss what’s next.
  2. Send the materials to be discussed to your Faculty Mentor at least 1-2 days in advance of your meeting to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
  3. Do not be shy. Do not hesitate to ask your Faculty Mentor and teammates for help when you encounter problems, which may resolve confusion and issues much more quickly and efficiently.

Working with teammates

  1. Make a clear distribution of work.
  2. Be open to any feedback from your teammates. Analyze the rationale for each person’s point of view before making a final decision.
  3. Engage in active and consistent communication with each other to advance the project together.