Grants and Writing Resources for the University of Oklahoma
On April 20, 2026, OU announced that a third-year chemical biosciences student in the Honors College had been named a Goldwater Scholar. The student's lab work is on photodynamic therapy, a cancer treatment that pairs drugs with light to fight harmful cells. Ten days later came word that three seniors and a current graduate student were among five OU recipients of 2026-27 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, chosen from nearly 14,000 applicants.
Undergraduate Research and Its Funding
The Honors College held its 38th annual Undergraduate Research Day on April 16, 2026, in the Thurman J. White Forum Building. That year 175 students presented posters and projects. Judges awarded first and second places in categories from engineering to the arts and humanities, plus a grand prize for the best oral presentation and another for the best poster.
Money for the work comes through the Honors College's research programs. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) gives grants of up to $1,500 for student-driven projects with a faculty sponsor, for research expenses only. Undergraduates on the Norman and Health Sciences Center campuses can apply alone or as a pair, and a pair's award is split equally. Honors students with at least a 3.40 GPA can also compete for the Honors Research Assistant Program, which funds 25 paid assistant positions each fall and spring: ten hours a week for ten weeks at $13 an hour.
A Journal and the Honors Thesis
The Honors Undergraduate Research Journal comes out once a year with the best undergraduate research papers. A peer editorial board picks them by blind review. Each published paper carries a $200 prize, divided evenly among co-authors.
Most Honors theses are written in Research 3980, a three-credit independent study built around an original project with a faculty mentor the student recruits. Graduating with Honors in one major takes three of those hours.
Graduate Grants, Fellowships and Prizes
The Graduate College lists its awards on one financial support page. Robberson Research and Travel Grants pay up to $1,000 per academic year, with one cap covering both, to students with a 3.0 GPA who are doing research or creative work or presenting it. Doctoral students past the general exam can apply for the Nancy L. Mergler Dissertation Completion Fellowship, a $25,000 stipend over two semesters with tuition waivers and health insurance, or the Bullard Dissertation Completion Fellowship, $12,500 for one semester. The $1,000 Alice Mary Robertson Award goes to graduate creative or research work on Oklahoma women's contributions. The Graduate Student Senate adds supplementary research and conference grants in a fall round and a spring round.
Finished work can win a prize. Units nominate master's graduates for the Graduate Dean's Distinguished Thesis Prize, $500 and a certificate. Departments nominate the previous calendar year's doctoral graduates for the Provost's Doctoral Dissertation Prize, $1,500 and a certificate.
Writing Center and Thesis Submission
The Writing Center in Wagner Hall 280 works with undergraduates and graduate students at any stage of a draft. Appointments run 25 or 45 minutes, face to face, by video or as written feedback. Graduate students and postdocs can book Extended Read appointments for documents up to about 3,000 words. For copy editing of dissertations, theses and articles, the center refers writers to a list of local editors for hire.
The center's graduate events include six-hour writing retreats held monthly in fall and spring. Camp Completion is a free three-day camp for students in their last one to three semesters of dissertation writing. Camp Jumpstart is a free year-long program for students starting a thesis or dissertation.
The Graduate College's Steps to Degree page holds the Thesis/Dissertation Instruction Packet, the request for authority to defend and the approval form that opens electronic submission. Final copies are uploaded to SHAREOK, where a Graduate College counselor reviews each one before it joins the collection. An embargo needs advance approval.
Our editors give theses, dissertations and course papers a final edit for grammar, consistency and format before they reach a committee or a professor. See our University of Oklahoma dissertation and thesis editing and University of Oklahoma essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with the University of Oklahoma, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your OU writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.