Description: The Lance & Elena Calvert Rising Researcher Award celebrates outstanding first-year projects that incorporate library research. The award recognizes creativity, curiosity, and academic growth in first-year student research projects.
Prize details: Up to eight winners, $500/each
Eligibility: First-year students with less than 30 completed college credits at the time of course completion. Assignment must have been completed for a first-year course assignment during the most recent fall/spring semester. Projects submitted for this award may not be submitted for the Undergraduate Award.
Required elements:
Rubric
| Submission Element | Category | Accomplished (3) | Competent (2) | Developing (1) | Unaddressed (0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflective Essay | Curiosity & Interest | Clearly explains how the research question reflects personal curiosity and desire to learn something new about student’s chosen topic | Explains how the research question relates to personal interest in the topic | States the research question and how it relates to class assignment | Does not explore student’s interest or reasoning for choosing their research question |
| Adapting Their Research Question | Clearly explains the evolution of their research question based on learning new information by conducting research and/or collecting data | States the first version of the research question and describes some adjustments, with some explanation for the changes | States at least first and final version of their research question, but gives little to no explanation for why changes were made | Does not address how research question changed | |
| Growth as Scholar | Uses multiple in-depth examples that demonstrate how this project helped them grow as a scholar | Uses one example of how this project helped them grow as a scholar | Gives superficial or generalized information about student’s growth as a scholar but does not give examples | Does not address how this project contributed to their growth as a scholar | |
| Use of Library Resources/Services | Uses examples to clearly describe the strategic use of library resources and services and their impact on the research project | Gives limited description of use of library resources and services; some strategy and reflection is described | Describes superficial or generalized use of library resources and services; does not describe why they were used or how it impacted their research project | Does not address use of library resources or services | |
| Project | Research Question/Thesis | Research question/thesis is: • Easily identifiable • Fully addressed by the project |
Research question/thesis is: • Not well defined, but identifiable • Too broad/narrow for assignment, partly addressed |
Research question/thesis is: • Confusing or hard to identify • Too broad/narrow for assignment |
Not identifiable |
| Use of Sources | Uses a blend of sources (popular, scholarly, government, etc.) to answer the research question; makes explicit connections showing how they address the question | Uses at least two kinds of sources; makes some connections between sources but does not fully explain how they answer the research question | Does not use enough sources OR does not explain how they help answer the research question; connections between sources are unclear | Does not use sources to answer the research question |
Application deadline: 5pm on Friday after final exams each semester (ex. 12/19/2025; 5/22/2026)
Description: This award celebrates student work that communicates academic research using modes of communication intended for non-academic audiences in an effort to positively impact our communities. Examples include, but are not limited to: podcasts, zines, websites, videos, GIS data mapping, Wikipedia entries.
Prize details: Winners receive $1500
Eligibility: Student must be enrolled as a UNLV undergraduate at time of project completion. A project created for an undergraduate course during the most recent summer/fall/spring semester (ex., for spring 2026 deadline, a course taken in summer 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026); the audience for the research project should be non-academics. Projects completed for a spring course do not need to be completed by the submission deadline to be eligible.
Required elements:
Scoring: Rubric
Applications will open in December
Description: This award celebrates research projects created for a 100-300 level course; examples include research papers and research posters.
Prize details: Winners receive $1500
Eligibility: Student must be enrolled as a UNLV undergraduate at time of project completion. Course must have been completed during the most recent summer/fall/spring semester (ex., for spring 2026 deadline, a course taken in summer 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026). Projects created for a spring course do not need to be completed by the submission deadline to be eligible.
Required elements:
Scoring: Rubric
Applications will open in December
Description: This award celebrates research projects created for a 400 level course; examples include research papers and research posters.
Prize details: Winners receive $1500
Eligibility: Student must be enrolled as a UNLV undergraduate at time of project completion. A research project created for a 400 level course during the most recent summer/fall/spring semester (ex., for spring 2026 deadline, a course taken in summer 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026). Projects created for a spring course do not need to be completed by the submission deadline to be eligible.
Required elements:
Scoring: Rubric
Applications will open in December
Description: This award celebrates research projects created for 400 level sequential courses (the project spans two semesters); examples include research papers and honors theses.
Prize details: Winners receive $1500
Eligibility: Student must be enrolled as a UNLV undergraduate at time of project completion. Course must have been completed during the most recent summer/fall/spring semester (ex., for spring 2026 deadline, a course taken in summer 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026). Projects created for a spring course do not need to be completed by the submission deadline to be eligible.
Required elements:
Scoring: Rubric
Applications will open in December
Description: This award celebrates student work that expresses scholarly research through creative projects, including but not limited to creative writing, dance, design, film, art, music, and architecture.
Prize details: Winners receive $1500
Eligibility: Student must be enrolled as a UNLV undergraduate at time of project completion. Projects must have been completed during the most recent summer/fall/spring semester (ex., for spring 2026 deadline, a course taken in summer 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026). Projects created for a spring course do not need to be completed by the submission deadline to be eligible.
Required elements:
Scoring: Rubric
Applications will open in December