Research through Inclusive Opportunities

The Research through Inclusive Opportunities (RIO) program, offered by the Office of Undergraduate Research, guides primarily early-career undergraduate students (sophomores and incoming transfers) through engaging in a research, scholarly, or creative project. This program is designed to have a faculty-student mentee model where students work on an academic-year-long project under a faculty mentor and present at the RSCA conference in March. Student participants receive financial support, workshops, and advising from peer, staff, and faculty mentors. Students work closely with faculty mentors on projects, write a full report by the end of the academic year, and publish on Bronco ScholarWorks.

The program provides research and career development workshops, training, faculty mentoring, and peer mentoring. Students receive $2000 research stipends/scholarships split into two disbursements (end of fall and spring semester). The Office of Undergraduate Research also hosts the Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities (RSCA) Conference, providing an opportunity for students to present their research publicly.

Read Student Impact

Eligibility

• Must be first-generation, low-income (Pell Grant eligible), OR underrepresented minority (URM)
  • Studies have shown that first-generation, Pell-eligible, and URM students have not been participating in research activities at the same level as their campus population would suggest. For example, roughly 40% of all participants in undergraduate research were URM students, whereas URM students make up 50% of the CPP campus population (2019-2020). RIO is designed to ensure that first-generation, Pell-eligible, and URM students have the same access and opportunity to conduct research as other students.
  • RIO is partially funded by a federal grant whose specific aim is to increase the number of first-generation, Pell-eligible, and URM students that participate in undergraduate research.
  • For students who are not eligible for RIO, please view our research programs for information about other undergraduate research programs and opportunities. We have lots of programs with different eligibility requirements and a few where there are no eligibility requirements. We want everyone to be able to have this enriching experience; RIO and other OUR programs are part of this effort!
• Able to work on the research for the duration of the academic year (end of spring term) while being enrolled at least half time (6 units) during both the fall and spring semesters
• Our program is primarily tailored to provide dedicated support to sophomore and first-year transfer students.
  • While our main focus is on assisting these two groups, we warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds and academic stages to participate!