SRE.college Research Access Award

To improve student access to research projects and experiential learning through the use of Muser, an open source web application to connect students and mentors, SRE.college is offering its Research Access Award to selected recipients.

Award

The award is in the form of a fully sponsored first year of the SRE.college Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, a value of $12,500. This includes:

  • Site installation
  • Website hosting
  • Customization of site using your school’s colors and branding
  • Training for site administrators via video conferencing
  • Documentation
  • Support via Email and a private issue tracking system
  • Required software updates
  • Website monitoring to check for and handle any downtime

Requirements

The grant applicant should be the person who will act as the site administrator for the installation, will manage the site, and be the main point of contact. This should be a person with a proven track record of working with web applications (as a manager, or, at least, as a user), coding, or technology-driven social change.

A successful applicant must:

  • Have an authorized school representative sign the SRE.college contract. This contract will specify that the first year cost will be covered by the award, and, unless cancelled, will auto renew at the standard price at the end of that year (currently $12,500 per year).
  • Obtain agreement from the school's IT department to work with our staff to implement Single Sign-On (SSO) for your installation. If you will be using a custom domain for the installation (e.g.muser.duke.edu, sre.example.edu, etc.), the IT department will need to update their DNS as required.
  • Demonstrate effort to find internal funding for further usage of the SRE.college service after the first year.
  • Report after 6 months on progress towards finding that additional funding.

Application

Application deadline: Monday, April 5, 2026 at 11:59pm.

Contact Information

Mission

Approval

Have you received approval from your department and/or school to use the SRE.college system?
Do you have an authorized school representative from your school that will sign the SRE.college contract, if you receive the award?
Who? Please provide name, position, and contact information.

Management

Describe their track record of working with web, coding or technology-driven social change.

We have found that mentor adoption is the single most important factor in the long-term success of a school’s implementation of the system.

How will you encourage mentors to adopt this system in place of their current process (e.g. email, word of mouth, etc.)?

Describe what marketing channels you have available and how you will use them to ensure students are aware of relevant opportunities.

Implementation

As a web application, SRE.college will need to collaborate with your institution’s IT department to fully integrate it with your institution’s online ecosystem.

Have you received agreement from your school’s IT department to work with SRE.college staff to implement Single Sign-On (SSO) for your installation?
What is SSO?
Who will be our contact person in the IT department?

If you don't know the answer to this, your school’s IT department will be able to tell you.

What is SSO?

If you will be using a custom domain for the installation (e.g. muser.duke.edu, sre.example.edu, etc.), will your IT department be willing to update their DNS as required?
What is DNS?