Content coming soon!
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:
Scoring: Rubric
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