Research Opportunities

Once you have a faculty mentor, you can pursue research either for academic credit (during the school year) or as a paid research assistant (during the summer) or as part of a senior thesis (can be either during the summer or during the school year.

If you wish to participate in research during the academic year, you must enroll in a Natural Science Research Class.  You must have a faculty mentor before enrolling in this class.  To learn more about Natural Science Research Class, you can go here.  

If you wish to participate in research during the summer, you will need to secure funding.  Keck Science Department offers summer research fellowships, there are numerous college-sponsored fellowships, and some faculty also are able to offer their own fellowships through grants.  You must have a faculty mentor before applying for funding for summer research, and we recommend discussing with your faculty mentor how best to secure funding.  To learn more about Summer Research fellowships, you can go here.  

If you wish to pursue a senior thesis as part of your research, you can find information here. 

Most undergraduate research in science is done in partnership with a faculty mentor.  Although there are exceptions, in most cases, students work on projects that relate to a faculty members' ongoing projects in their research groups.  

The first step in getting involved in research is to find a faculty mentor.  You will want someone who both does research you find interesting AND can provide you a training experience that matches your interests.  

To identify a faculty mentor, you can see a list of active research groups here, and you can see a list of faculty who currently possess open positions below.