Furthering the Experience: Undergraduate Research Organizations, Opportunities, and Programs
There are numerous organizations, sources of funding, and programs that provide educational and financial support for undergraduate research experiences. There are also conferences and journals that welcome research done by undergraduates.
If you know of opportunities not listed here, please email epsizemore@randolphcollege.edu to have them considered for inclusion on this page.
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Undergraduate Research Organizations
Council for Undergraduate Research-CUR's mission is "to support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship." CUR, which offers individual faculty and administrator memberships as well as insitutional ones, works to support funding for collaborative research, disseminates best practices, and offers workshops for those seeking to further their commitment to undergraduate research. In addition, it operates an online graduate school registry where undergraduate researchers can provide details of their research accomplishments to graduate programs, and it sponsors a yearly Posters on the Hill event in Washington, DC for students to share research with policy makers and politicians at the Capitol. CUR divisions include those for STEM disciplines, as well as for the social sciences, psychology, and arts and humanities. Between institutional and individual memberships, over 900 colleges and universities are represented in CUR.
National Conferences on Undergraduate Research-NCUR's signature accomplishment is "promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students." NCUR conferences provide opportunities for students of all disciplines to network and to present original research to peers and faculty in discipline-specific sessions. NCUR also offers faculty development sessions focused on best practices in mentoring and collaboration in undergraduate research.
Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunities
National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program-The NSF's REU program supports undergraduate research in areas funded by the NSF. The NSF accepts proposals for REU sites and REU supplements (for NSF-funded ongoing projects). The NSF maintains a list of REU sites to which students can apply for undergraduate research experiences.
Campus Undergraduate Research Programs
Many colleges and universities have undergraduate research programs. Some offer stipends or academic credit to students, and some offer stipends or course release to faculty collaborators. Some programs run during the academic year, while others are reserved for the summer. CUR provides descriptions of undergraduate research programs at several institutions.
Undergraduate Research Conferences and Journals
NCUR sponsors a conference for students of all disciplines. Some institutions offer undergraduate research symposia for their own students, and many discipline-specific state, regional, and national conferences offer sessions where undergraduates can present their own work. If there aren't such opportunities at your own institution or favorite conferences, you can always look into organizing some yourself.
Some institutions with undergraduate research programs have journals for their own student research, but there are many journals that accept undergraduate research as well. Some engage undergraduates as reviewers as well. CUR maintains a list of journals that publish undergraduate research.