Getting started
Research opportunities abound, but finding the right fit for your interests may require some effort. Here are suggestions for starting your search:
Approach a professor whose research interests you. Faculty may be looking for a research assistant or aware of other opportunities. This could be a great conversation during office hours.
Consider a research-based course. Courses with research as a central focus can introduce research methods and help you assess your interest in a more long-term research project.
Talk to a department advisor. Department advisors often have knowledge of research opportunities. If you are an honors student, also ask about opportunities to pursue independent research through your department’s honors program.
Think beyond your own discipline. Be open to research opportunities outside of your major. Many students find research opportunities in other departments, colleges, or UW-affiliated centers.
Dedicate a summer to humanities research. In the UW’s Summer Institute in the Arts & Humanities, undergraduates engage in scholarly research with accomplished scholars and peers while earning full-time academic credit.
Explore the resources of the UW Office of Undergraduate Research. This office offers guidance on all aspects of undergraduate research.
- Through undergraduate research advising, learn about finding a position, earning academic credit, identifying research funding, and more.
- The research opportunities database includes several hundred undergraduate research opportunities. Be sure to check the database periodically, as new opportunities are continually added. (Interested in psychology research? Also visit the Department of Psychology Undergraduate Research Opportunities webpage.)
- If your research involves human or animal subjects, the research ethics page includes links to information about UW policy and federal regulatory requirements.
Washington Experimental Mathematics Lab
Contribute to mathematical research while making it accessible to the public.
Homer Multitext Project
Join an international team producing digital editions of early Homeric texts.
UW Center for Human Rights
Research declassified documents to confirm and address human rights abuses.
Involving Undergrads in Chemistry Research
Undergraduate researchers are an important part of Ashleigh Theberge’s chemistry laboratory, which invents bioanalytical chemistry tools to improve healthcare and advance knowledge of chemical mechanisms in the body. "At any given time, the group might be about half undergrads," she says. "An undergrad can be just as creative or productive as a principal investigator. We've had undergrads be first author on papers based on ideas they had. They've been a big part of our research from day one."
Student Research Experiences
Writing Mrs. Lenin
Darby Sherwood developed a play, Mrs. Lenin, under the mentorship of a nationally recognized playwright.
Paris & Penguins
Anna Sulc researched French literature in Paris and studied penguins in Argentina.
Seeking Justice
Anthony Stokes worked with an attorney on parole petitions as part of the Juvenile Parole Project.
A Leader in the Making
Stephanie Masterman explored fishing and ecostystem concerns of the Tlingit community in Alaska.
A Passion Takes Root
In the UW Department of Biology, Ava Kloss-Schmidt had the opportunity to study plants in the field, in the lab, and in the UW Greenhouse. She was part of a research team that spent the summer surveying plants in alpine settings, and during the academic year she worked in a faculty lab, studying an immune receptor in the legume plant family. Kloss-Schmidt also helped care for plants in the Greenhouse. “The breadth of things I’ve been able to do has been fantastic,” she says.