There are several ways you can get involved in research, and it could be a quick taste or a deeper experience, depending on your interests and schedule.

The Office of Undergraduate Research provides:

• • Undergraduate Research Opportunity funding ($1200/semester for up to 2 semesters, which can be any during your time at the U). Most of our faculty help students apply for these to work with them in their labs.
  • Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR). A faculty mentor would apply for a larger, full-time funded summer project. Once the PROJECT has been approved, students can apply for that particular project.
  • Travel grants (typically to attend and present at a professional conference), an Undergraduate Research Scholar Designation, and more

Special Topics Courses: For CE students, up to 4 credits may be taken from any combination of the courses listed below. For EE students, up to 8 credits may be taken from any combination of the courses listed below. Credits out towards ECE technical electives. ECE 3970 (cap of 6 credits) and ECE 3990 (cap of 4 credits):

• • ECE 3970 Undergraduate Research in ECE can be taken at any time during your undergrad program and counts towards your technical electives. This can be any research project working with any faculty. Please talk with the faculty member you would like to do research with, and agree on a plan for your research and how many credits this should be. Then fill out the Special Studies Request Form and attach it when you request a permission code for this class. Include a brief description of the project in the explanation box.
  • ECE 3980 Independent Project: This is any type of special topic of interest to you. It must be overseen by a faculty member, but may not be directly involved in their research.
  • ECE 3990 Co-operative Education Work (Industry Internship) The U holds a spring Internship Fair to help you find internship opportunities.

Senior Thesis Capstone Project: During the spring of your junior year, plan a project to be completed during the fall and spring (or summer/fall/spring) of your senior year, perhaps even funded by UROP. You get credit for this, and it’s actually a required and really fun part of our program.

Honors Thesis: This is an Honors version of the Senior Thesis Capstone Project.

National Science Foundation: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sponsored by the National Science Foundation are a paid summer research job at a research site somewhere in the US or at the U (faculty who have an NSF project can request a supplement to support undergraduate researchers, discuss this with your faculty mentor).

More Resources:
* Learn more about getting started in Undergraduate Research
* Listen to Episode 16: Exploring Undergraduate Research of This Academic Life podcast featuring Professor Cindy Furse to learn more about undergraduate research.
* Please contact Professor Furse directly with additional questions about the undergraduate research program.