Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate research and creative projects truly represent UCM’s mission of “transform[ing] students into leaders who possess the aptitudes, skills and confidence,” particularly in the way they exemplify engaged learning. The process of working one-on-one with a faculty mentor in all phases of the process, from topic creation to the final product, is an undertaking that forever impacts a student’s collegiate experience. In fact, research finds this type of engagement significantly increases desirable student outcomes, such as higher GPAs (Sell, Naginey, & Alexander, 2018) and graduation rates (Nerio et al., 2019), particularly for underrepresented students (Carpi et al., 2017; Hernandez et al., 2018). Participation in undergraduate research and/or creative endeavors also prepares students for life after college, another pillar of UCM’s mission, including graduate school and employment opportunities (Miller, Roconi, and Dumford, 2018).

Additional opportunities can be found through the McNair Scholars Program. This program is designed to mentor first-generation, low income, and/or minority undergraduate students into research-focused graduate programs.  Please access the McNair Scholars website to learn more about eligibility and the application process. The Honors College also provides opportunities for student research as part of its curriculum. Please visit The Honors College website to learn more about eligibility and the application process. Graduate students should visit the Office of Graduate Studies website to explore research and funding opportunities.