The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is offering its first-ever funding opportunity specifically for undergraduate students to perform research or creative work projects abroad.
UH Mānoa was selected as one of 12 institutions nationwide to apply and receive up to $20,000 in private funding to support international research from the Tyler Center for Global Studies. According to the center, the awarded institutions “have articulated the significance of inquiry, cross-cultural engagement and experiential learning in undergraduate research.”
“While UROP has always provided financial support for students to conduct research abroad, we anticipate that this new funding opportunity specifically geared for international experiences will inspire even more students to pursue their scholarship goals around the world,” UROP Director Creighton Litton said. “The Tyler Fellowship is much more than an academic opportunity—it’s a chance to make a meaningful impact on the global stage, and then bring that newly acquired knowledge back home to Hawaiʻi.”
While the deadline to apply for summer 2025 has passed, Litton hopes UROP will continue to offer this fellowship in the years to come.
Angel Sanchez, a UH Mānoa student majoring in cinematic arts, conducted research in Venice, Italy in summer 2024 and was supported through funding from UROP. Her project was about comparing European and international cinema at the Venice International Film Festival. Sanchez encourages UH Mānoa students to take advantage of this new funding opportunity.
“Curiosity and understanding of international culture allows for future collaboration, meeting different people, learning from each other, creating something new and sharing things you create to a wider audience,” Sanchez said. “Overall, international research gives you an opportunity to expand your worldview knowledge and reflect about your own lifestyle and culture as you try to apply what you learned to yourself and from there, create something new.”
This new funding opportunity is possible via a collaboration among UROP, UH Foundation and the Study Abroad Center that provides a funding mechanism and student/mentor international travel training.
Each year, UROP awards more than $500,000 in merit-based scholarships directly to students to support mentored undergraduate research and creative work projects and presentations. An additional $125,000 is awarded directly to mentors to support undergraduate research and creative work during the summer via the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience program.
