Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Scholarship-New Freshman

Admitted new freshman students are invited to apply for New Freshman URSCA Scholarships. These competitive $1,000 scholarships are awarded to students interested in exploring an area of academic interest in greater depth outside of their regular classes. The scholarships are for a student’s first year only and are paid out in $500 increments at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters. Through regular weekly contact with faculty mentors and other, more experienced students working in that area, recipients will have the opportunity to begin pursuing their scholarly interests in their first year at UW-Platteville. Recipients will be expected to present their accomplishments on campus by the end of their first year. For more information and to view the available research opportunities, view the list below under the scholarship criteria.

The following criteria shall be used in the annual selection of the recipient(s):
1. Applicants must be new freshman
2. Applicants must have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher

Students selected for the URSCA scholarship will have the opportunity to work in one of the areas below. Applicants will have to list their top 3 choices in order of preference. Every effort will be made to place recipients with a faculty mentor working in the recipient’s first or second choice area.

1. Dendrochronology: The Science of Tree Rings (Environmental Science)
2. Monitoring Prairie Birds With Sound Recordings (Environmental Science)
3. History of Science and Technology in Europe (History)
4. Genetic Characterization of Field Mouse Species at the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area Restoration (Biology – Baraboo students only)
5. The role of GEFmeso in the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (Biology – Baraboo students only)
6. Fluorescent Staining of Mammalian Cell Organelles (Biology)
7. Developing a new generation of sustainable agrichemicals (Biology)
8. Nutrient and Carbon Management on Farm Fields (Agriculture)
9. Managerial Considerations for Generation Alpha (Business)
10. Building Team Trust in a SnapChat and TikTok World (Business)
11. Precision Feeding Dairy Cows Using Robotic Technology (Agriculture)
12. Developing New Strategies for Diagnosing and Monitoring Metabolic Disease in Dairy Cows (Agriculture)
13. Developing Novel Plant Disease Management Strategies (Agriculture)
14. Genetic Analyses of Plant-Microbe Symbioses (Agriculture)
15. Bridging the Gap Between Current Building Energy Performance and Future Net-zero Goals (Mechanical Engineering)
16. Computer-Aided Disease Diagnosis Using Machine Learning (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering)
17. Microbial Detection and Assessment of Viable Organisms Using DNA-based Verification Technologies (Chemistry)
18. Polymer Nanopatterning for Electronics Made From Graphene (Engineering Physics)
19. Soft Robotics Hand Milker (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering)
20. Calving Prediction Using a Multi-sensor-based Wearable Monitor (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering)
21. Connecting the Microgrid: Exploring Computer and Industrial Network Devices for Local Power Systems (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
22. Material Processing Using 3D Printing (Mechanical Engineering)