How to Get Started
Are you ready to start your own project? Whether you’re interested in STEM, the performing arts, social work, literature, or more, there is a place for you to make an impact—and DU has what you need to get started. Project funding is available to DU undergrads. There are many paths to take from your first day at DU to your very first project.
The Path to Your Project
Take advantage of DU’s highly engaged faculty.
From your First-Year Seminar professor to faculty office hours, 4D Fellow mentors and more, you have many opportunities to connect with DU faulty members invested in your intellectual success. Take advantage of opportunities to get to know on-campus experts in fields aligned with your interests, passions and goals.
Reflect on your passions.
Take what you learn from your classes, background, interests, and involvement in clubs or affinity, as well as the change you want to see in the world, to begin homing in on the kind of project you might like to design.
Pitch your idea.
Whether you have your own unique project idea or are interested in contributing to an existing project, make your interest known! DU’s faculty are eager to work with students seeking hands-on experiences to do work that matters most to them.
Work with your mentor to complete an application.
Once you have secured an interested faculty mentor, work with them complete the appropriate grant application for your project. They can help you determine scope, fund allocation and more, as well as serve as a key collaborator with you as you carry out your project.
Apply!
Following yearly deadlines, you and your faculty mentor can apply for the funding that will make your project possible.
Get to work.
Based on the scope outlined in your project plan, work alongside your faculty mentor, and perhaps your peers, to tackle your project.
Share your results.
Every intellectual pursuit expands valuable skills and understanding. You and your mentor can determine the best way to get the word out about what you learned, created or impacted. One option is DU's Student Signature Work Showcase (formerly known as the Research and Scholarship Showcase) a beloved annual tradition each spring celebrating the incredible work of DU’s students.
Are You Ready? Apply for Funding.
Dive into and complete the grant application process with your faculty member.
Build new knowledge through original research or creative work
For instance:
- Make original research or creative work (e.g. Measure pollutants in homes and schools to test hypotheses about their relative contributions to youth respiratory and mental health)
- Contribute new scholarly ideas or information (e.g. Use archival materials to uncover how immigration influenced healthcare in the Rocky Mountain region in the early 20th century)
- Produce new artistic or creative output (e.g. stage a theatrical production to explore new approaches to set design)
Connect existing knowledge across different fields to reveal new insights
For instance:
- Bring people together to make an impact in the community (e.g. Collaborate with a community organization to create works of public sculpture that bring the community’s values to life for a public audience)
- Contribute to and be informed by community partners, such as, but not limited to, nonprofits, grassroots organizations, government agencies and businesses (e.g. Collaborate with a local nonprofit to evaluate its services for youth experiencing homelessness)
Apply existing knowledge to address societal challenges
For instance:
- Promote a ‘regenerative future’ through social and ecological justice (e.g. Apply design principles to create a low-cost water purification system for use in rural communities)
- Fit into DU’s Center for Regenerative Future’s framework, including but not limited to ecological care, equity, resilience, circular & sharing economies, creativity, and mindfulness (e.g. Apply engineering principles to improve the design of artificial limbs for patients)
Start Completing an Application with Your Faculty Mentor
Get details, deadlines, application requirements and more.
