Student-Mentor Collaboration Grants

Research and Sponsored Programs

About Student-Mentor Collaboration Grants

The purpose of Student-Mentor Collaboration Grants are to support students engagement in research, scholarship and creative activities. There are two categories of grants available: Scholarly Project and Professional Presentation Travel. Students must be working with a St. Cloud State faculty/staff mentor to apply and follow the eligibility, submission, and guidelines below.

Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed. Submissions to both student-mentor collaboration grant categories is strongly discouraged.

Scholarly Projects

The purpose is to support academic research and creative activity by St. Cloud State undergraduate and graduate students under the direction of a St. Cloud State faculty/staff mentor.

Applicants may apply for up to $1,000 to support materials and supplies, travel to conduct research, and other reasonable needs directly associated with the research project.

Applicants must be current St. Cloud State undergraduate or graduate students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program and admitted to a major at the time of application and during the period funds are expended.
Each project must involve a faculty mentor and align with the applicant’s academic program and career goals.
Proposed projects must be completed within the current fiscal year and must not have previously received funding through this grant competition.
Collaborative projects involving two or more students, must submit only ONE application. Each application may apply for up to $1,000.
Applicants can only be awarded ONE Student-Mentor Collaboration award per academic year.
Receiving additional funding from other internal or external sources does not impact a student’s eligibility for this grant competition.

Deadline: February 6, 2026 at 4 p.m.

Apply Here

Step 1: Review the eligibility and budgetary guidelines outlined on this page. You can also review the criteria used by the review committee by viewing the evaluation rubric.

Step 2: Discuss your project and intent to apply with your faculty mentor as upon submission your proposal will be automatically routed to them for review and approval. Original work, authored by student applicant(s) is required and citations are mandatory when you incorporate research, words, ideas, data, or information that is not your own.
All approvals (signatures) are facilitated electronically in Wizehive and applications will not be considered without all required approvals.

Step 3: Click on the red "Apply Here" button to login to Wizehive using your StarID.

Wizehive allows you to save your progress as you work on completing your application.
Do not click on the "Submit" button in Wizehive until your application is complete.
A complete application includes the application, Estimated Project Budget (download the template spreadsheet by clicking on the red button above), supporting documents and budget justification items.

Step 4: Click on "Submit" to put forward your COMPLETE application for consideration. It must be submitted prior to the posted deadline above or it will not be considered.

Step 5: Once your completed application is electronically approved in Wizehive by your faculty mentor, your application will be distributed to a review panel for review and consideration. Please note that the review process takes time, so please be patient. Updates will be sent out as soon as the review process is concluded.

Download the Expense Summary Worksheet (Excel)

DISCLAIMER: Applicants are encouraged to submit their electronic application early to avoid potential access issues. Applications after the deadline will not be considered without official confirmation of campus-wide accessibility/technical outages. Previous versions of application forms will not be considered and will be returned without review.

Overview

Budget justification must include detail regarding cost, quantity, and articulation of how each item contributes to the success of the proposed work to ensure reviewers understand the value of each expenditure in relation to the project's objectives.
The maximum award for a project is $1,000.
Funds must be spent by June 30 of the award year. No carry forward is allowed.
All purchases and/or reimbursements must follow St. Cloud State's Business Services purchasing policies and procedures.

Allowed costs

Materials and supplies (will remain property of St. Cloud State University).
Technology (needs to be purchased through Husky Tech and will remain property of St. Cloud State University).
Travel and accommodations required to conduct scholarly project. Note: If accommodations are requested please note this in the "Other" line under the Travel Expense Category of the estimated project budget spreadsheet.

Disallowed costs

Expenses from prior fiscal years
Faculty activity or travel
Meals
Student stipends
Gift cards
Sales tax
Study abroad programs
Computers/laptops/tablets/printers
Items available for check out through the University Library’s collection of multimedia equipment.
Items available in the academic department or college/school’s supplies, materials and equipment inventory.
Poster printing
Poster tubes

Professional Presentation Travel

The purpose is to support travel to present scholarly work by St. Cloud State undergraduate and graduate students under the direction of a St. Cloud State faculty/staff mentor at professional conferences.

Applicants accepted to present at a professional conference may apply for up to $500 to support registration fees and select travel expenses. While we strongly encourage group proposals, available funding will likely limit out-of-state travel to one person per group.

Applicants must be current St. Cloud State undergraduate or graduate students who are enrolled in a degree-seeking program and admitted to a major at the time of application and during the period funds are expended.
Each project must involve a faculty mentor and align with the applicant’s academic program and career goals.
Proposed projects must be completed within the current fiscal year and must not have previously received funding through this grant competition.
Collaborative projects involving two or more students, must submit only ONE application. Each application may apply for up to $500.
Applicants can only be awarded ONE Student-Mentor Collaboration award per academic year.
Receiving additional funding from other internal or external sources does not impact a student’s eligibility for this grant competition.
Applicant's project/research must be completed or nearly completed and accepted for presentation at a professional conference.