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). 

To get started, check out our list of active faculty-student projects on campus. You can also work with a faculty mentor to create your own independent project. Additional opportunities can be found through the McNair Scholar Program. This program is designed to mentor first-generation, low income, and/or minority undergraduate students into research-focused graduate programs. Please access their 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 their website to learn more about eligibility and the application process.

For all students, we offer small grants for expenses related to research or creative projects. We encourage students to take advantage of these funds (see the link below).