Primary Investigator (PI) Applicant Information

Thank you for your interest in serving as a mentor to a first-year students! The application portal will open on Wednesday, July 22, 2026 for the 2026-2027 academic year. In the meantime, please review this page for information on:

Eligibility Information

Are you eligible to be a Primary Investigator (PI) in the First-Year Scholar Program?
  • Full-time KSU faculty, staff, and postdoctoral researchers who are committed to mentoring first-year students are eligible to apply

Is your project proposal eligible for consideration?
  • Projects should be striving for actual data and not conclude as:
    • Literature Reviews
    • Annotated Bibliographies
  • Projects which plan to work with human subjects should be prepared to seek IRB approval
  • Projects which plan to work with animal subjects should be prepared to seek IACUC approval

 

How are projects selected for inclusion in the First-Year Scholars Program?

The following criteria are used to evaluate proposals for inclusion in the First-Year Scholars Program: 

  • The PI has a strong track record of mentoring undergraduate researchers (or strong interest if new to KSU or new to undergraduate research mentoring)
  • The PI has a productive research program (e.g., strong publication record, external funding, strong conference participation)
  • The proposed project meets the definition of undergraduate research as defined by the Council on Undergraduate Research
  • The PI has a strong track record of completing all the requirements of the Office of Undergraduate Research funding programs they have participated in, within the last academic year
  • Consideration will be given to feedback from end-of-year reports received by the Office of Undergraduate Research
  • Consideration will be given to use of prior awarded funds and their deliverables from the Office of Undergraduate Research

Proposal Submission

Details on the PI Application

The following information is requested via the application in InfoReady:

  1. Name, KSU Email, Department Affiliation
  2. Co-PIs? If yes, their information.
  3. Project Title
    • Avoid jargon if possible - this will be used on the website to recruit students to your project.
  4. Project Description (400 words max)
    • Written for non-technical audience. Will be copied verbatim to the website to recruit students to your project
  5. How does this project meet the definition of undergraduate research? (300 words max)
  6. Student Outcomes (300 words max)
    • Skills or techniques students will learn from your project
  7. Student Duties Per Semester
    • Fall Semester: What will the students be working on during October - December? (300 words max)
    • Spring Semester: What will the students be working on during January - April? How will you ensure that they have data to present at the Spring Symposium of Student Scholars? (500 words max)
  8. Modality
    • Face-to-Face, Hybrid, Online
  9. Preferred Number of Students
    • 5 is the max, but this is not guaranteed
  10. PI Research Portfolio (300 words max)
    • Overview of your research portfolio and your experience incorporating undergrads into research activities
  11. Previous OUR Funding for the last three fiscal years, if applicable
  12. Preliminary Budget Table (template is provided)
Additional Guidelines
  • Mentors may only submit one project as the Primary Investigator (PI).
  • Selection is competitive; you will be notified if you have been selected within two weeks of the deadline. 

Things a successful application avoids:

  • Abbreviations with no explanation
  • Lots of technical or discipline specific jargon
  • Exclusionary language
    • As a reminder, students are allowed to apply to any project they find interesting, even if it is outside their discipline. We encourage topic interest over discipline alignment, and see the value in building interdisciplinary research teams.
  • Pre-set availability requirements
    • Student applicants will already be set in their fall classes, and PIs should be flexible at the beginning of the program

 

The application portal opens on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

COMING SOON!

Accepted Primary Investigator (PI) Requirements

As this program provides a funding resource for the accepted research projects, the Office of Undergraduate Research maintains these requirements for all Primary Investigators (PIs) accepted into the program. 

By applying to the First-Year Scholars Program you are confirming your commitment to:

  • attend one (1) mandatory student selection training session
  • attend one (1) mandatory program orientation session, each semester
  • complete progress reports for each matched student throughout the duration of the program
  • complete mid-year and year-end evaluation surveys for each matched student
  • commit a minimum of 1-hour to judging at the Symposium of Student Scholars each semester

These requirements, particularly the progress reports and surveys, are vital to collecting data on how the funding is being utilized, as we rely on the PIs to relay this information to us. Should an audit of Office of Undergraduate Research funding usage be requested, this is our current reporting method. 

Failure to fulfill these requirements will result in ineligibility for 1-year of future funding from the Office of Undergraduate Research

If you have any questions regarding these requirements, please email our@kennesaw.edu 

As a mentor to a First-Year Scholar, you will be responsible for ensuring that each student matched to your project:

  • works on the project for an average of 5-10 hrs/week
    • working hours are kept to weekdays, when classes are in session, and when the university is open, unless an agreement is made in advance between the student(s) and the PI 
  • actively presents the research project at the Symposium of Student Scholars in April
  • stays informed on the requirements to receive their stipend payments as laid out by the Office of Undergraduate Research

Some additional guidelines regarding mentoring First-Year Scholars:

  • Remember that they are in their first year – be nice!
  • Keep expectations reasonable
    • the students likely have no background in research, and are not required to in order to be eligible for this program
  • Integrate them into existing work and with other team members if applicable (e.g., other faculty mentors on the project, postdocs, grad students, other undergrad researchers)
  • Aim for other presentations and/or publications as appropriate
  • PIs are not obligated to work with their first-year scholars past the end of the program, but we encourage you to continue working with them if the experience has been positive

We appreciate your dedication to student engagement. We hope that you and your student(s) have an amazing year and that the research partnership continues after this first year.

    • The OUR will coordinate with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness to track Retention, Progression, and Graduation RPG) rates for participating students.
    • Primary Investigators (PIs) and first-year scholars will be surveyed regarding impact on research productivity.
  • Session Date Time Location
    Student Selection Training Session (Kennesaw Campus) Thursday, September 10, 2026 11:00am - 11:45am ALC 5500
    Student Selection Training Session (Marietta Campus) Friday, September 11, 2026 3:30pm - 4:15pm TBD
    Mandatory Orientation for all PIs and co-PIs (Kennesaw Campus) Wednesday, September 30, 2026 1:30pm - 2:45pm ALC 5500
    Mandatory Orientation for all PIs and co-PIs (Virtual) Thursday, October 1, 2026 12:45pm - 2:00pm MS TEAMS
    Mandatory Orientation for all PIs and co-PIs (Marietta Campus) Friday, October 2, 2026 3:15pm - 4:30pm Engineering Tech. Ctr., room Q202

FAQs for PIs

  • Yes! We encourage Primary Investigators (PIs) to continue participating in the program each academic year.

  • Unfortunately, PIs cannot participate in the program if their project does not receive any student applications.

    We encourage you to be proactive in recruiting students. Consider visiting introductory classes in your department to talk to them about the program and your project specifically. Work with your college or department's Communication Manager to post on social media platforms or send email blasts.

  • PI funding will become available after the students have been selected and matched to the project (typically the beginning of October).

  • Some PI and student pairings can participate in the Sophomore Scholars Program, which has limited funding.

    If the student and PI are not part of that program but would like to continue to work together in the student's second year, there are other options: