Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Research Opportunities for Undergraduate Students
Liberal Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Initiative (LASURI) Heading link
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers students the opportunity to gain research experience through the LAS Undergraduate Research Initiative. Through this program, students work with a dedicated faculty mentor on a research project of either their own choosing, i.e., Honor’s capstone or on a faculty mentor’s project. Students who participate in LASURI learn
- Effective communication skills
- Develop professional relationships with faculty
- Understand how to manage research and research hurdles
- Critical thinking and time management
Students can apply for the program during the spring semester and carries with it a scholarship of up to $1250 per semester. Interested students can find more information at this link.
Graduate-Undergraduate-Research-Mentoring Program (GURM) Heading link
Undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience and skills can apply to participate in the Graduate-Undergraduate-Research-Mentoring Program. This program matches interested undergraduate students with a graduate student mentor who is working on their dissertations. Through this program students gain insights into the research process while assisting their graduate student mentor on their dissertations. Undergraduate Students are encouraged to use this experience to work on research that can be presented at a research forum or conference. Dr. Amy Bailey, the coordinator of GURM, has taken groups of undergraduate students to the Midwest Sociological Society conference, Social Science History Association conference and undergraduates have presented at the Undergraduate Research Forum hosted by UIC. Some skills students learn through GURM include:
- Literature reviews (literature search and writing)
- Collecting data (internet, survey, archives)
- Writing analytic memos
- Coding qualitative interviews using Atlas.Ti, Dedoose, Maxqda or NVivo
- Learning Statistical packages such as STATA, R, Python, and SPSS
- Developing research presentations
- Writing analytical, empirical research papers
Students interested in this program can contact our Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Amy Bailey
Summer Research Opportunities Program for Undergraduates Heading link
The Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) was first established in 1986 by the Graduate Deans of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). The goal of SROP is to introduce domestic underrepresented sophomores and juniors to academic research experiences. Student participants work one-on-one with a faculty mentor giving them an opportunity to experience research and the graduate student experience. The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) launched its SROP in 1986, with a total of six minority undergraduate students.
Students interested in this program can find more information here