Student Support
Explore Funding Opportunities to Support Your Academic Journey
Welcome to our student funding resource page. Here, you'll find information about a variety of internal and external funding opportunities available to University of Illinois Springfield students.
Whether you're looking for scholarships, grants, fellowships, or student employment opportunities, these resources can help support your academic, research, and professional goals. We encourage you to explore the options available and identify opportunities that align with your interests and needs.
InfoReady Pilot Phase
To help streamline and modernize our processes, the UIS Office of Research and Sponsored Programs has implemented InfoReady, a platform that brings application, review, and approval workflows together in one place.
After several months of workflow development and internal testing, we are excited to announce that the new applications are ready for trial deployment for Fall 2026.
As we continue refining the system, you may encounter occasional issues or areas for improvement. We welcome your feedback on anything that is unclear, difficult to use, or not working as expected.
Please contact us at ORA@uis.edu with any questions, concerns, or suggestions! Your feedback will help us continue improving the experience for the UIS community.
UIS Student Research Funding Program
OPEN Now! Until Funds are Depleted Each Fiscal Year
The Student Research Fund was established by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost to promote undergraduate and graduate student research endeavors at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Program provides matching funds, up to a maximum of $500 per student, in support of approved research, scholarly, and creative activities that will promote the University of Illinois Springfield as well as the development of students as active learners and scholars. University travel policies apply when requesting funding to present at an academic conference.
Apply using the application link in the request for proposals (RFP) below:
UIS Outstanding Master's Thesis Award (OMTA)
OPEN Now!
Each graduate faculty member at UIS can nominate one student for the Outstanding Thesis/Project award program. The faculty member's nomination must be accompanied by a letter explaining the reasons for the nomination. The letter may comment on issues such as the breadth of conceptualization, the depth of the analysis, the significance of the results, and/or the originality of the idea underlying the thesis/project. If the nominated work is a project, the letter should highlight the purpose and nature of the project, as well as its importance to the student's course of study. The deadline to submit all materials is September 28, 2026.
The Research Board may recommend that a master’s thesis be entered into the Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award program of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools.
Nominate candidates using the link in the guidelines below:
National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
OPEN Now!
The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) brings together undergraduate students from all disciplines and institutions to present and celebrate research, scholarship, and creative work while fostering career readiness and academic excellence. Abstract submission closes December 4, 2026.
Learn how to apply and read more on the NCUR webpage.
Therkildsen Grants for Faculty-Student Collaborative Research
The Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon (TFSE) welcomes UIS academics (both faculty and students) to submit collaborative research projects in and around the Emiquon Preserve. For more information on this please visit this website: Therkildsen Student Grants
If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to us at ora@uis.edu.