Research

The Undergraduate Research Center – Sciences serves UCLA undergraduates and faculty in all areas of the life and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics.

Scholarships

The URC-Sciences offers several scholarship programs designed to support students in all stages of their research journeys. Many of their scholarship programs are major- or minor-based, so students should always confirm eligibility before applying. For students who are early on in their undergraduate research experiences, the Undergraudate Research Fellows Program supports a two-quarter life science, physical science, or engineering research project with a UCLA faculty mentor. Juniors and seniors who are already working in a UCLA faculty member's lab can apply to the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, which awards funding for students to complete an honors thesis, departmental thesis, or comprehensive research paper by the end of the academic year.

Research Programs Lists 

The URC-Sciences features lists of research programs from UCLA campus partners and outside UCLA.

Social Media

Students can connect with the URC-Sciences on Instagram @ucla_urcsciences, or Facebook.

The Undergraduate Research Center for the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences serves all students in humanities, arts, social science, and behavioral science disciplines. 

Graduate Research Mentors

Undergraudate students can schedule 30-minute Zoom advising appointments with Graduate Research Mentors to discuss topics related to research and creative projects such as identifying research interests, getting started in research or creative inquiry, forming a research question, writing a research or creative proposal, applying to scholarship programs and graduate school, and finding a faculty mentor. 

Scholarships

The URC-Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences offers several scholarship programs designed to support students in all stages of their research journeys. Programs may last one, two, three, or six quarters. "Entry-level" programs, such as Research Revealed and the Summer Research Incubator are meant for students who have not participated in research, or have minimal research experience; while Research Revealed is limited to freshmen, sophomores, and first-year transfer students, the Summer Research Incubator is open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors (incuding rising second-year transfer students). Other programs, such as the Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, and UCLA/Keck Humanistic Inquiry Undergraduate Research Awards, support students who commit to completing an independent research or creative project. 

Students who wish to participate in these scholarship programs should note that they are responsible for identifying an appropriate faculty mentor.

Social Media

Students can connect with the URC-Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences on Instagram @ucla_urc, or Facebook.

The Learning-Aligned Employment Program (LAEP) offers eligible students at public colleges and universities the opportunity to earn money to help defray their educational costs while gaining education-aligned, career-related employment. LAEP allows a participating student placement in an educationally beneficial position that relates to the student’s area of study, career objective, or the exploration of career objectives. 

All eligible students will see a link on their financial aid notification (FAN) stating student qualifies for LAEP. Review your latest academic year FAN. If you are LAEP-eligible, you will see a blue link stating “You may qualify for the Learning-Aligned Employment Program” on the upper section of the letter, above the “Awards Offered" section. Click on that link for more information and instructions on how to apply. 

All approved Learning-Aligned Employment Program (LAEP) jobs will be posted on Handshake. Please use “LAEP” in the search area to identify any positions posted.