Hiring Research Assistants

Depending on grants or other sources of funding, faculty PIs may have two mechanisms available for paying undergraduate research assistants: wages, and awards/stipends.

Faculty mentors can hire undergraduate students conducting research as undergraduate research assistants (URAs). URAs are hired through the university and receive hourly wages. A URA appointment should not affect financial aid.

• A student must be enrolled in at least 12 hours to be appointed as a URA in the fall or spring. A student does not need to be enrolled over the summer if they were enrolled in 12 or more hours the preceding spring; otherwise, they need to be enrolled in 3 or more summer hours. A student can work as a URA the summer after graduation if they were enrolled in 12 or more hours the preceding spring. Human Resources has more info about eligibility for other types of student job titles.
• Undergrads who receive work study can apply their work study toward a URA position. Work study can cover up to 70% of a student’s wages, leaving only the final 30% to be covered by the faculty member or their department/college.
• During the hiring process, work study recipients will need to provide their proof of work study, found on their CASH page, and the hiring team will provide basic info about the nature of their work study position. HR teams will have access to such paperwork and can communicate the department-specific needs.

Students in URA positions must regularly submit timesheets, which are typically routed to the PI for approval. For students with work study, it is especially important to stay on top of timesheets as unsubmitted time can affect their financial aid.

Students receive funds in a lump sum. 

• This method can be more straightforward than hiring a student and may be best depending on grant allowances.
• Awards and stipends can potentially affect student financial aid.
• This option can be ideal for students ineligible to work at the university.
• Students receiving an award or stipend are not required to submit timesheets for approval.
• Funding from student success initiatives or other programs that support student success might complement a student’s research experience. For instance, students in the University Leadership Network can use their involvement in undergraduate research as a way of fulfilling ULN’s experiential learning requirement, which goes towards qualifying them to receive scholarships of up to $5,000 per year.

• Determine how long a student will be working with you—semesterly, yearly, over the summer. This will ensure they are appointed for the proper length of time and avoid any drops in employment between semesters; this is particularly important for work study students, as it is more complicated to compensate them for lost hours.
• Undergraduates can work a maximum of 20 combined hours per week across all of their university positions.
• Ensure that students know their payroll deadlines in order to keep their timesheets up to date and avoid any delays or issues with their pay; this is especially important for students using work study. Ensuring that students know their deadlines as well as their points of contact for day-to-day tasks, timesheet approval, and HR needs will help reduce possible issues in the future.
• If you’re looking to pay a student using a grant, be sure that your grant agreement allows for this. The Office of Sponsored Projects handles 26- accounts, which generally can be used to pay URAs as long as the project sponsor and award permit doing so. Depending on account type and grant agreement, sometimes other accounts can be used as well. For more information on grants and accounting for hiring undergraduate research assistants using grant funding, please contact the Office of Sponsored Projects.
• Students who are hired as URAs can also choose to simultaneously receive course credit for their research. Students can pursue course credit through their major or through the Office of Undergraduate Research.
• If a student is not enrolled in classes or appointed as an URA over the summer, in some cases it is possible to provide them with continued access to lab space by appointing them to a different position such as research affiliate.

If you are looking to connect with undergraduate researchers either in a general capacity or for specific roles, we suggest posting on Eureka. Students often first seek out research opportunities via Eureka, particularly through the Projects section of the database. We highly recommend keeping your faculty profile up to date, as well as making listings for any research projects open for student participation. Please reach out to our team if you would like to have a postdoc or graduate student set up to help manage your profile and project listings.