Grants and Writing Resources for Elon University

Fifteen Elon students finishing their sophomore year were named 2026 Lumen Scholars, and each holds a $20,000 Lumen Prize, the university's top undergraduate research award. One biochemistry student is searching soil microbes for new antibacterial compounds. An astrophysics student studies how galaxies grow through cold and hot gas, and an English major in creative writing is at work on a novel that uses horror and immortality to explore queerness and safety. Over the next two years each scholar works on the project with a mentor.

Money for Research Under Way

The Undergraduate Research Program gives grant-in-aid awards, generally up to $500, to sophomores, juniors and seniors enrolled in research credit (4998/4999) whose projects have already started. The money buys lab, media and software supplies, field materials and printing, and it pays for travel to a regional library, museum or field site. Students may receive one grant a year, and recipients are expected to apply to present their work.

The same program funds the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and offers travel grants, including support to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The Lumen Prize is open to students completing their second year who commit to two more years at Elon and have a faculty mentor. Its $20,000 can go to research assistance, study abroad, equipment and supplies, and summer stipends.

Where Student Work Appears

Elon suspends other campus activities for the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum, known as SURF, so students can present in poster and oral sessions. The 2026 forum was held April 28. Before a student submits an abstract, two Elon faculty members other than the mentor review it.

Communications students can publish in the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, described on its page as one of the nation's only undergraduate research journals in mass communications. Every article names its mentor. For work in other media, the Center for Writing Excellence runs a Multimodal Writing Contest for posters, webtexts, podcasts, infographics and journalism, judged in nine categories that run from health sciences to law and internships. The 2026 contest named eight category winners and two grand prizes, and the contest call for that year listed a $100 gift card for each first place.

Fellowships and Graduate Study

The National and International Fellowships Office works with students on awards such as the Truman, Mitchell and Goldwater scholarships, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Fulbright U.S. Student grants. Many are open to graduating seniors and recent graduates, and a few accept first-years, sophomores and juniors.

Elon's National Fellowships Advisory Committee reads drafts and picks the university's nominees, who then finish their applications with the office's director and assistant director. According to the office's FAQ, Elon undergraduates apply for Fulbright through the university, alumni may apply through Elon or at large, and graduate students apply through their graduate institutions. For the most competitive awards the committee suggests a GPA of 3.7 or above.

Help With Writing and Theses

The Center for Writing Excellence in Belk Library houses the Writing Center, which serves all students, faculty and staff. Consultants meet one on one about any academic, professional or co-curricular writing project, traditional or multimodal. The center also runs student workshops on Honors theses, undergraduate research and research posters, and its renovated space has multimodal studios and a room for practicing presentations.

In the Honors Program, thesis research with a faculty mentor runs over the junior and senior years, and a thesis research grant of up to $1,000 helps pay for it.

Once an Honors thesis, research paper or fellowship essay has its final content, our editors can check it for grammar, consistency and format. Visit our Elon University dissertation and thesis editing and Elon University essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• The Secret to Better Grades: Starting Your Writing Process Early
• Writing the Abstract and Title: First Impressions Matter
• Treating the Personal Statement as a Scholarly Defense