COVID-19 Updates | Office of Undergraduate Research

Guidelines for Completion of Undergraduate Research Projects in Summer 2020 and Fall 2021

Last updated: August 18, 2020

Undergraduates can continue to work in credit-bearing research programs such as directed research (DR) or scholarship programs (UROP, URS, GC-UROP) under the following conditions

Undergraduate researchers will be allowed to voluntarily return to labs and other facilities by following the Research Resumption steps.

Researchers should be aware that, depending on the situation, such as a reimposition of the State of Minnesota’s stay-at-home order or changes in University rules due to a resurgence of COVID-19 infections or new information on transmission, research may have to be quickly ramped down again. This would likely involve the same process as during the hibernation of research under the initial stay-at-home order.

For research projects that do not require being on campus...

(e.g. projects that use information available online, projects that don’t require special equipment or resources), students should work on their projects as scheduled.

Directed Research and scholarship students should finish all tasks specified in their Directed Research contract or scholarship application. Directed Research mentors should assign grades when the semester is over. Scholarship students will receive their final payment once all of their forms have been submitted.

For students whose project CANNOT be completed or changed...

the student’s project can be delayed.

For directed research projects, student and mentor should produce an incomplete contract for completion of the work in fall semester. Information on the incomplete contract is found here.

The mentor should enter an incomplete grade for Summer 2020, and change the grade as soon as the work is completed. Scholarship students should contact the Office of Undergraduate Research to obtain an extension to their award. The final payment will be made once the project is complete.

Students who are in their last semester at the University and cannot complete their project should consult with their mentor, their major’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the Office of Undergraduate Research to agree on a plan to complete their research project.

Questions?

For more information on Directed Research, please contact Paul Siliciano at [email protected].

For research programs run by the Office of Undergraduate Research such as UROP, URS, and GC UROP, please contact Vicky Munro in the Office of Undergraduate Research at [email protected].

Research on campus is expected to slowly reopen over the summer of 2020. See up-to-date information on the status of research activities from the Office of the Vice President for Research.

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is a unit within the Office of Undergraduate Education that connects undergraduate students with research opportunities throughout the University of Minnesota.