CALS Undergraduate Research Grants

CALS Undergraduate Research Grants is Cornell's internal funding route for full-time undergraduates enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It supports research expenses and travel to professional conferences, with awards of up to $2,000 and no stipend use. The program runs annually and uses a single application that the committee matches to named funds such as Dextra, the Cornell AES Hatch and McIntire-Stennis supplements, the Jane E. Brody award, the Morley Fund, the Gabler Endowment, and the Michael W. Berns award. The Fall 2026 cycle is listed for August 24 through October 18, 2026. The strongest applicants are students with a clear project, a faculty mentor who can sign off on the proposal, and a research plan that fits one of the named sub-funds. The program is tightly limited to Cornell CALS undergraduates, so it functions as an internal research-support channel rather than an external competition. The annual cycle also favors students who can align early with a mentor and a matched fund.