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Graduate Research Certification
The Graduate Research Certification (GRC) is a year-long professional development program that provides graduate, professional, and select undergraduate students with the skills and knowledge necessary to initiate, conduct, and successfully conclude research projects. Students will strengthen their skills by attending workshops that foster intellectual discussion of ethical issues in conducting research and best research practices, presenting their research/creative/scholarly activity, completing a culminating experience, and more. The GRC is a collaborative effort between the Office of Research Integrity, UNLV Libraries, UNLV Writing Center, the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Professional Development Committee of the Graduate Council, GPSA, and the Graduate College.
This is a medallion-qualifying program for UNLV graduate & professional students. For additional information, please see the Graduate College Medallion Program website.
Graduate Students
In order to participate in the program, graduate students must:
- currently be enrolled.
- be in good academic standing in a graduate degree program.
Undergraduate Students
In order to participate in the program, undergraduate students must:
- be in good standing in the UNLV Honors College and/or UNLV Ronald E. McNair Baccalaureate Programs and/or be graduates of the UNLV Graduate College Grad Rebel Advantage Program
- have completed a minimum of 90 credits with a minimum 3.0 overall GPA.
- currently be enrolled.
Applications are only accepted once per year. Applications will be open from July 1 to September 15. There is no application fee.
The 2024-2025 online Graduate Research Certification Application for Graduate Students can be found on The Grad Rebel Gateway. Please log in to the Grad Rebel Gateway, click on The Grad Academy tab, then click on the TGA Applications button to Submit a New Application.
Undergraduate students should also submit an online application. The application cannot be saved and must be completed and submitted in one sitting.
As a part of the application form, please be prepared to provide a statement of interest that details your experience and goals for participating in the Graduate Research Certification program.
All program requirements need to be completed in full by the student in order to complete the program, receive a certificate of completion, and have the Graduate Research Certification completion noted on their UNLV transcript.
- Program requirements will be submitted through the Graduate Research Certification WebCampus Course. Participants will be added to the course upon program acceptance.
- Students must attend all three required cohort meetings.
- Students must watch 1 mandatory workshop and submit a one-page summary. The mandatory workshop will be provided via WebCampus.
- Students must attend a minimum of 5 elective workshops scheduled in the fall and/or spring terms. Workshop options will be listed below under this year’s workshop schedule. Alternatively, students can select recorded workshops from the Workshop Summary Options tab and submit one page summaries via WebCampus.
- Undergraduate students must submit to and present their research/creative/scholarly activity at either a university-level research forum or a professional conference.
- Graduate students must present their research/creative/scholarly activity at Rebel Grad Slam.
- GRC students must complete all components of the research portfolio, which include:
- Strengths Test Results & Self Reflection
- Scholarly Research Statement OR Research Proposal
- Research Experience Reflection
- Participants will receive portfolio feedback from a faculty member.
- Students must complete all program forms/surveys.
Undergraduate students in the GRC program must submit to and present their research/creative/scholarly activity at either a university-level research forum or a professional conference. Graduate students in the GRC program must submit to and present their research/creative/scholarly activity at the Rebel Grad Slam.
University-Level Research Forums
Undergraduate GRC students in the McNair program may opt to present at the McNair Scholars Forum. All undergraduate student participants may also choose to present at the Undergraduate Research Forum.
Rebel Grad Slam
Graduate students in the GRC must present their research/creative/scholarly activity at the Rebel Grad Slam. If they cannot present at this venue, then they may fulfill the research presentation requirement by presenting at a professional conference (please see below for additional information). However, they need to receive prior approval from the program manager.
Professional Conference
If graduate students cannot participate in the Rebel Grad Slam, then with permission, the students may present their research/creative/scholarly activity at a professional conference in their field in order to fulfill the presentation requirement. In order to obtain permission, please email gradacademy@unlv.edu.
Undergraduate students who cannot participate at a university-level research forum can, with permission, present their research/creative/scholarly activity at a professional conference in their field in order to fulfill the presentation requirement. In order to obtain permission, please email gradacademy@unlv.edu.
- Students must apply and be admitted before they can begin participating in the GRC.
- Once admitted, students must complete all program requirements in one academic year with their cohort.
- All cohort meetings are mandatory.
- If a student is not in good standing in their degree program, or if they create any problems as a participant in the GRC, they may be removed from the program at the discretion of the graduate college dean.
Meeting Schedule for 2024-2025 Graduate Research Certification Program:
- Introductory Cohort Meeting: Wednesday, September 25, 2024, 3:30-5 p.m.
- Mid Cohort Meeting: Tuesday, November 19, 2024, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
- Final Cohort Meeting: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 3:30-5:00 p.m.
- The Grad Academy Mixer: Thursday, December 12, 2024 from 5-6:30 p.m., University Gateway Building, Room 268 & 269 (optional)
- The Grad Academy End of Year Celebration: Thursday, May 15, 2025 from 5:00-6:30 p.m., University Gateway Building, Room 268 & 269 (optional)
The below workshops will help fulfill the requirements for the Graduate Research Certification. You must RSVP for all workshops at least 24 hours in advance. To RSVP, please click on the workshop below. This will send you to the calendar entry page, which has the RSVP information. A full list of the workshops offered this semester can be found on the Graduate College Student Workshop Calendar.
The below workshops will help fulfill the requirements for the Graduate Research Certification. To receive credit for a workshop, click on the workshop recording you would like to watch, write a 1-page summary (single or double-spaced), and submit the summary via WebCampus.
- Mentorship Matters: Building Successful Research Relationships
- Grounded Grad Rebel Series: Cultivating Mindfulness
- Grounded Grad Rebel Series: Finding Your Work-Life Fit
- Multilingual Writing at Grad School in the Age of AI
- Preparing for Rebel Grad Slam: How to Effectively Translate Your Academic Work for a General Audience
- Professional Communication Series: Research Abstracts
- The Essentials of Lab Management
- How to Make Bad Plots
- The Importance of Gender Pronouns
- Big Data & Sustainability: Research and Community Impact
- Reading and Writing about Academic Literature: An Introduction to Writing a Literature Review
- Resume vs. CV Workshop
- Gaining Confidence as a Graduate Student, Researcher, and/or Professional
- Preparing for Rebel Grad Slam: How to Effectively Translate your Academic Work for a General Audience
- Research/Thesis/Dissertation/Scholarly Writing
- Building Mentorship Skills for Academic Careers
- How to Write a Conference Proposal: Advice on Finding Calls, Writing an Abstract, and Submitting your Scholarship
- Post-Graduate School: Exploring Non-Academic Pathways + Translating Your Skill-set
- Professionalism 101
- Time Management: Strategies for Success
- Difficult Conversations & Conflict Resolution
- Research Poster Design
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae: How to Create Them and When to Use Them
- Getting Started with ORCID
- Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research: Which should you use?
- Rebel Grad Slam: Tips & Tricks
- Public Speaking 101
- I’ve published - now what? How to locate and understand citations, metrics, and more
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Thesis/Dissertation Writing
- Rebel Grad Slam
- GPSA Sponsorship
- Preparing Manuscripts for Publications
- Engaging Policymakers & Establishing Dialogue Around Research
- Ethics & Professionalism
- Grant Writing
- Giving Great Virtual Presentations
- Creating and Maintaining a Curriculum Vitae
- Writing Effective Research Abstracts
- Launching the Leader in You
- How to Give Constructive Feedback on Colleagues’ and Mentees’ Writing Materials
The Graduate College will be hosting Tuesday Talks: Your Questions Answered for current The Grad Academy program participants. Please drop by on any of the following Tuesdays, 4-5 p.m., to ask us any questions you might have or just to check your progress:
- All human subjects research conducted by UNLV faculty, staff, and students must be approved by the UNLV Institutional Review Board before the research project begins. Visit the IRB website for more information.
- Demystifying the Journal Article (Inside Higher Ed)
- How to Create a Fabric Presentation Poster from a Powerpoint or PDF
- 2023-2024 Cohort
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- 2020-2021 Cohort
- 2019-2020 Cohort
- 2018-2019 Cohort
- 2017-2018 Cohort