Natural Sciences Research Class

This class is a mentored research experience with a Keck Science faculty member.  It is not a structured lab course that will teach you methods; it is more like an internship where students perform research under the mentorship of a faculty member.

To provide faculty and students the flexibility to create an experience that works best for them, there are few formal requirements and structure.  However, we strongly encourage students to proactively discuss the expectations and experience with their faculty mentor before enrolling in the course.

For each discipline, you can enroll in either Natural Sciences Research I (196) or Natural Sciences Research II (197).  These differ based on the time commitment expected.  Although the decision is ultimately made between faculty mentor and researcher, generally speaking, enrollment in 196 requires approximately 3-6 hours/week of research and enrollment in 197 requires approximately 6-10 hours/week of research.  This may vary from lab to lab and depending on the nature of the research, so please discuss this with your faculty mentor before the start of the term.

Each student must request permission to enroll (PERM) and must provide the faculty administrator of the class with some basic information (To access the form for Spring 2024, go here).  If student PERM is accepted, then the student will have permission to enroll (note that you still have to actually enroll in the class!).  PERMs submitted after the add deadline will not be considered.

This will vary based on the type of research and the needs of the student and mentor, so it may vary quite a bit from student to student.  We would recommend that you discuss this with your research mentor before the term starts.  For most students, meeting once per week is appropriate/typical.

Whether a final paper, poster, presentation, report, etc is expected will vary based on the type of research and the needs of the student and mentor.  Please whether this is expected with your research mentor before the term starts.

Unfortunately, this is not allowed under California state law.  If you perform research in a faculty member’s lab, you must receive either financial payment or academic credit.