Students celebrating the 2024 ONCA Anniversary.
ONCA Undergraduate Leadership and Professional Development Awards
Submit your complete application by October 15, 2026 at 11:59 pm EST.
Apply Now!

Office of Nationally Competitive Awards Undergraduate Leadership Grants

Get funding for your leadership in the community, creative work, or research. Open to all undergraduate freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Ohio University.

Do you have a vision for community engagement, creative activity, or research? Do you have a sense of the impact you can make via a particular project and the steps needed to execute it? Do you need funds to travel to present your project/research at a professional conference? Then please apply for the Undergraduate Leadership and Professional Development Awards through Ohio University’s Office of Nationally Competitive Awards (ONCA). Benefits include up to $2000 to execute your vision and one-on-one mentorship through ONCA. 

Deadlines for ONCA Undergraduate Leadership and Professional Development Awards will occur twice annually, with one deadline in February and another in October. 

Who Can Apply?

Open to all undergraduate freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors at Ohio University. The program provides funding for your leadership in the community, creative work, or research. 

Up to four awards each year are sponsored by the Ohio University Emeriti Association and will be designated specifically for junior and senior undergraduate students applying to present their research results or creative work at a professional conference. Recipients of these awards are expected to also present their results to Emeriti faculty and staff at an Emeriti Association luncheon held each spring.

Possible Projects

Possible projects include, but are not limited to:

  • a specific community initiative you develop or that is already underway (e.g., a nutrition education campaign aimed at Athens County, a media literacy campaign aimed at Appalachian Ohio communities, or a plan to reinvigorate student interest in and connections to another important issue);
  • a project you would like to accomplish as a leader or member of an existing student/community organization, or the launch of a new student/community organization;
  • a specific creative project you develop and lead (e.g., production of a relevant play or a community poetry project aimed at rural Ohioans);
  • a specific research project you develop and lead (e.g., manage a piece of a larger lab’s wildlife biology research, or develop an independent project on an important issue)
  • traveling to professional conferences or other venues for presentation of research results or creative works and activities 

Application Process

Applications are assessed on the project’s intended and prospective societal or scholarly impacts and your growth as a scholar and leader.

  • Freshman and Sophomore Projects: Must be feasible to execute within 1-2 years of a December 15, 2026 grant receipt date.
  • Junior and Senior Projects: Proposed leadership, community engagement, research, or creative projects must be completed by graduation. 
  • Nationally Competitive Awards: Applicants must include a plan in their application materials to apply for a nationally competitive award or an award in your specific field before, upon, or after graduation in addition to executing the proposed project.

How to Apply

Submit to: oncaleadershipgrants@gmail.com

  • Resume/CV 
  • 750-word max. proposal that addresses the following nine questions: [Please avoid discipline-specific jargon and write for a general, educated audience]

 

  1. Name, class standing (i.e., freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), and expected date of graduation.
  2. What is the title, focus, and intended outcome of your proposed project? (100 words max.)
  3. How will your project impact society (on campus, locally, regionally, nationally, internationally, and/or in your field)? Be as specific as possible when discussing intended impacts. (100 words max.)
  4. Describe the approach to leadership/research you intend to use with this endeavor. To do so, you might describe the leadership philosophy, problem-solving methods, your vision, and/or your research question in layman’s terms.  (100 words max.)
  5. How will you recruit needed participants, collaborators, or stakeholders for this project? Be specific when explaining the steps you will take in research recruitment or community engagement. (100 words max.)
  6. How do you envision the project supporting your personal growth? Identify particular character traits (e.g., accountability, compassion, curiosity, integrity) you anticipate developing via the experience and explain the significance of those traits to your life and work. (100 words max.)
  7. How do you intend to use the grant funds (max. $2000) to support the goals you have stated above? Be specific about the materials, tools, travel, and/or resources you will need. Provide a bulleted list of needed items and their costs. (100 words max.)
  8. Provide a timeline for executing the proposed project. You might consider breaking the plan into 3-month blocks of time. A bulleted list is acceptable here as well. (100 words max.)
  9. Which nationally competitive or discipline-specific award(s) do you plan to apply for within the next 2-3 years (e.g., Fulbright US Student Program, DAAD RISE, Marshall Scholarship, NSF GRFP, etc.) and why? Please see https://www.ohio.edu/honors/nationally-competitive-awards for examples of eligible award programs. (50 words max.)

Submission:

Please email oncaleadershipgrants@gmail.comwith your completed proposal and resume/CV as a single .pdf by October 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

Selection Committee:

Recipients will be chosen by an interdisciplinary group of Ohio University faculty/staff members. Proposals should therefore be written with a general audience in mind. Funds will be distributed to recipients upon completion of a series of conversations regarding leadership with the ONCA Director Chris Lewis, whom you can also reach out to at christopherlewis@ohio.edu with any questions about the program.

We look forward to reading your applications!

Group Proposal Instructions

Individual proposals can be co-authored by up to three students. If applying jointly with other students, your proposal must present a collective vision for your project (specifically in questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8) and individual plans for character development and award applications (meaning each individual in a joint application should compose their own max. 100-word responses to the prompts for questions 6 and 9). If applying jointly with other students, you each should include an individual resume/CV in the application materials.

  • Questions?

    If you have questions about the Undergraduate Leadership Grant Program through ONCA or the application process, contact Director Chris Lewis by sending and email to christopherlewis@ohio.edu.