The following story originally appeared on the website for the Charles Center. – Ed.

At William & Mary, undergraduate research finds its greatest impact when student discoveries are shared with the world.

Beginning this year, the Charles Center offers two types of dissemination grants to support students of all disciplines in expanding the visibility of their work.

The Undergraduate Research Publication Grant funds publishing costs for students cited as first authors on a peer-reviewed research publication that originated with their own idea. It will also support new or existing student-led journal, website, print or digital publications.

The Creative Research Dissemination Grant encourages exposure through expressive avenues, such as artistic exhibitions or productions, websites, podcasts and community events.

“A couple of years ago we started the Research in Motion Travel Grant to support conference travel but soon realized there was also a need from students coming to us who wanted to publish their research in a peer-reviewed journal or showcase it in some other creative way,” said Kate Patterson, Charles Center undergraduate research program administrator.

According to Charles Center Director Elizabeth Harbron, the grants were inspired by a vision to make dissemination funding more clearly accessible to students that may not realize support for these purposes is even a possibility.

“One of my goals in the Charles Center is to always make our opportunities transparently available to all,” she said. “I wanted to capture this movement we’re seeing on campus where students are not only doing research but also wanting to disseminate the results of their research in some form or another.”

Harbron explained that without proper funding, students often face cost barriers, including publication fees and venue expenses, that prevent them from showcasing their research to broader audiences. Her hope is that these unique grants will help to eliminate these barriers and open the door to more widespread recognition.

“The dissemination grants are really filling a gap in our funding model. Up until this point, we’ve had strong support for students doing research experiences and some additional support for research supplies,” said Harbron, “but we were missing that final piece of how to let the world know what students have done.”

“We never want finances to be a barrier for students to see their research to fruition,” said Patterson. “It’s something new for the Charles Center in the sense that we are continuing to think about how to support the dissemination of research, not only in the ‘doing’ but also in telling the story.”

Ultimately the grants will increase the impact of student research well beyond the walls of campus.

“In our internal W&M community, we are aware of our strong undergraduate research scene and that there are so many students doing amazing things,” said Harbron. “If no one outside of our campus knows about that, then the research findings end there and don’t have the same impact as when they are out in the world.”