Independent Research or Creative Project
Students can receive EXP-R credit for engaging in independent research or creative projects with a faculty member or faculty members on campus. Students must lead the research or creative project activities under the mentorship and oversight of the faculty. Research or creative projects can be extensions of the faculty's research interests or entirely independent ideas.
Faculty-Student Collaboration Courses
Faculty Student Collaboration courses provide faculty-student teams an opportunity to engage in research or creative projects together during the academic year within the structure of a course. FSC work should involve genuine collaboration, where students have some occasions for taking leadership in the project. Students receive academic credit. Students participating in FSCs will engage in FSC work for three hours each week (contact hours + outside work) for every registered credit hour. Contact hours with faculty may vary, but faculty are expected to provide consistent, ongoing, and collaborative involvement with their teams. All FSC teams will come together during the semester to hear about each other's projects and progress. FSC teams are expected to present their findings at Ovation.
Summer Scholars Fellowship Program
The Summer Scholars Fellowship Program is a funded 10-week intensive session that provides an opportunity for BW students to pursue research or creative projects of their own design under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Summer Scholars live together on campus during those weeks and have extensive opportunities to engage in collaborative activities within an intellectual community. This program is open to students pursuing any major offered at BW and who are in good academic standing.
Summer Scholars are awarded a $3,500 stipend, free summer housing and up to $500 to pay for supplies, services and/or travel in direct support of their research projects. Faculty mentors receive a $1,200 stipend and are expected to work closely to challenge, guide and support student researchers during the summer session. This "high impact" practice is a meaningful and fun way for students and faculty to spend part of the summer.
Regan Olak '23, was one of BW's Summer Scholars in 2021. With her Summer Scholars research project, Regan explored child perceptions of barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living during the summer months, as it is a period of increased risk for child food insecurity and declines in child health, using a photovoice-style research approach. Subsequently, Regan Olak has continued to disseminate her research. Her work was presented at the national American Public Health Association meeting in Boston, MA in November 2023. Additionally, Regan compiled a manuscript of her research findings that is under review for publication.
Riemenschneider Bach Institute Scholars Program
The RBI Scholars Program provides financial support to BW students wishing to complete mentored research in the collections of the RBI. Up to five $1000 awards are granted annually and can support a variety of project focuses, including academic, performance, educational, and interdisciplinary outcomes. Students selected for the program will receive research support from RBI faculty and staff, as well as a selected faculty mentor. Applications are due each spring by March 1.
Sarah Carter '23 received an RBI Scholar award to do independent research in the Riemenschneider Bach Institute during the 2021-22 school year. A flautist majoring in composition and arts management, Sarah chose to develop a guide to flute materials in the RBI. Working with her faculty mentor, Professor Sean Gabriel, Sarah examined all books and scores pertaining to the flute. Of special note were four 18th- and 19th-century flute manuals, most of which were donated to the RBI by Dayton C. Miller, a BW alumnus and prominent physicist. Sarah documented these in detail, along with a number of modern editions inscribed by their composers. Her guide will be a boon to those working with flute materials in the RBI and should help facilitate further research.
For additional information click here. Interested students should contact Dr. Danielle Kuntz, RBI Scholar-in-Residence, to learn more about these opportunities in order to select the program that is best suited to their project.
Looking for a project or need to chat about your experience? Email research@bw.edu.
