Research Opportunities
Why Do Research?
Conducting research as an undergraduate is an excellent way to gain experiences and skills that will benefit you both academically and professionally. In addition to exploring your areas of interest in-depth, undergraduate research develops skills in collaborative learning and critical thinking. For students interested in pursuing grad school, undergraduate research is a way of expanding your education outside of the classroom and better preparing yourself for the rigors of graduate study. Even if you are unsure about graduate studies, conducting undergraduate research is a way of exploring your research interests and testing the suitability of a research career to your interests.
How to Prepare for Undergraduate Research
Taking on research in addition to your regular course load requires excellent time management skills. We recommend that freshman students wait a year before applying to a summer research experience and for applicants to have at least a year of science and one year of college level mathematics completed.
Please Note: The application process for each campus offering an opportunity for conducting research will vary.
Some questions to ask yourself as you plan your research are:
- How much time can I commit to conducting research?
- Will I need financial support to conduct research throughout the summer and academic year?
- What kind of research work interests me?
- What do I want to gain from my research experience?
- How can I best prepare myself academically and professionally to do research?
- What safety courses will I need to take to do research in my field or lab?
The better you plan your academic coursework, the better you will be able to organize your time for research. Whatever your future professional and academic plans, gaining experience in undergraduate research will enhance your application and your preparedness for more self-directed research.
Applicants should note that most application deadlines fall between February – March every year.
Down below are myriad of websites that offer additional resources and undergraduate research opportunities.
This is your time to take advantage of the multitude of opportunities you have through applying for various research and internship opportunities!
- RECOMMENDATION LETTER REQUEST FORM 2017– This handout is intended to assist students on how to ask faculty and/or staff letters of recommendation.
- *National Science Foundation – Research Experience for Undergraduates(REU)*
- STEM Undergrads Research Database
- National Institute of Health Program for College Students
- Cal Poly Pomona REU UAV Technology – January 31, 2021
- National Science Foundation REU’s for Biology, Chemistry, and Ocean Science Majors – Various Deadlines
- STEMSEAS @ Columbia University
- Stanford SURGE Program
- Tarleton State University REU
- UCI CHEMISTRY SURF– Due January 10, 2021
- USC School of Pharmacy SURF– Due March 8, 2021
- University of Alabama at Birmingham– Due March 15, 2021
- Cal Poly Pomona REU Big Data Security
- STAR U Program at Columbia University
- Oregon State University Marine Science REU
- University of Alabama Birmingham PARAdiGM– Due March 15, 2021
- Michigan State University SROP– Due February 1, 2021 (Click on MSU Specific application)
- NIST SURF Program
- University of Buffalo CLIMB UP– Due February 1, 2021
- B.I.G. Computation Biology Summer Research @ UCLA– Due January 4, 2021
- IoT-SITY Research Experience for Computer Science at UC Irvine– Due February 1, 2021
- Northwestern University NanoTechnology REU– Due February 8, 2021
- Washington State University REU
- Vanderbilt REU
- University of Oregon Environmental Summer Research in Chemistry, Physics and Materials Science– Due February 15, 2021
- University of Hawai’i, Manoa REU
- SUROC AT The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- UCLA Technology Leadership Summer Institute
- Cal State Fullerton URE 2019– Due March 8, 2021
- Mystic Aquarium Research Experience– Due March 15, 2021
- USC Wrigley Marine Science Center– Open January 4, 2021-February 13, 2021
- University of Michigan Chemistry REU
- USC Keck School of Medicine Research Program
- USC Viterbi School of Engineering SURE
- NASA L’Space Academy
- CSULB LSAMP Program
- CSULB Summer Bridge Program
- UCLA CCCP Program
- USIBR Program @ UC Irvine
- UCLA MEDPEP Program
- CSULB Transfer Student Opportunities
- Summer Biomedical Research– Open from December 15, 2020 – March 1, 2021 (Tentative)
- UC San Diego STARS Program– Due January 27, 2021
- Transfer to Excellence Research Program at UC Berkeley – Due January 31, 2021
- CAMPARE Summer Research Program – Due Early February 1, 2021
- Community College Apprentice Research Experience (CCARE) @ CSU Monterey Bay
- Cal Tech Physics Summer Research Experience– LIGO SURF Program- Open October 16, 2020 – January 8, 2021
- SURF Program at Scripps Research Institution– Due February 15, 2021
- CSULB BUILD Scholars Program
- CSULB Research Preparation Programs
- CURE REU Energy Program
- Take a look at CSU Fullerton Natural Science and Math Department Research Resources
- Pathways to Science
- University of Washington Undergraduate Summer Research
- Physics Society for Student (Research)
- The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
- American Mathematical Society
- UCI’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program -Click on Off-Campus Opportunities
- NASA Student Opportunities
- NASA Micro-G Next
- Alabama State University: REU in Nanobioengineering
- Auburn University: NSF REU Site in Computational Biology
- Auburn University: REU in Aquatic Ecology
- University of Alabama Summer Program in Neuroscience (SPIN) – Due February 15, 2021
- Northern Arizona University: REU in Environmental Science
- University of Arkansas EcoREU
- California Academy of Sciences’ Summer Systematics Institute (SSI) – Due February 1, 2021
- Pepperdine University Seaver College Undergraduate Research in Biology – Due February 17, 2021
- Biological Research in Ecological and Evolutionary Developmental Biology (BREED)
- California Campus REU Program: Structure & Function Summer Institute (SFSI) – Due February 15, 2021
- UC Berkeley REU: Integrating Biology from Molecules to Ecosystems
- UC Riverside REU Program in Plant Biology
- Summer Research Program at UCSF
- Colorado State University: REU in Molecular Biosciences
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory REU
- UConn Physiology & Neurobiology REU
- Natural History Research Experiences (NHRE)
- Florida Agricultural & Mechanics University: REU in Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics
- University of Georgia: REU in Computational Biology – Due March 1, 2021
- Georgia Southern University: REU in Coastal Plain Science
- University of Georgia: REU in Microbiology – Due February 19, 2021
- University of Georgia: REU in Population Biology – Opens January 1, 2021
- REU in Environmental Biology for Pacific Islanders – Due February 2020 ( Tentative)
- University of Hawaii at Manoa: REU in Biodiversity-Due April 2020 (Tentative)
- Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science (PIPES) – Due January 31, 2020
- University of Idaho’s REU in Molecular and Organismal Evolution – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Chicago Botanic Garden Research Experience – Due January 2020 (Tentative)
- Field Museum’s NSF REU – TO BE DETERMINED
- Synthetic Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates (SynBREU) – Due January 24, 2020
- PRECS: Phenotypic Plasticity Research Experience for Community College Students – Due March 2020 (Opens January 2020- Tentative)
- University of Chicago REU in Cell Biology – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior REU – Due February 15th, 2020 (Opens November 1st, 2019)
- Purdue University: REU in Molecular Biology – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Notre Dame: REU in Molecular Biology – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Iowa: REU in Evolutionary Science – Due February 1, 2020
- University of Iowa: REU in Microbiology – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Eastern Kentucky University: REU in Ecology – Due February 15, 2020
- University of Kentucky: Biochemistry Summer Program – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Louisiana State University: REU in Genetics– Due March 31, 2020
- Johns Hopkins University: Rosetta Commons Research Experience for Undergraduates – Due February 1, 2020 ( Opens November 1, 2019)
- Johns Hopkins University BioREU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Johns Hopkins University: NanoBio REU – Due February 1, 2020 (Opens November 1, 2019)-
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s (SERC) Internship Program
- University of Maryland: Marine Science REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Boston College STEM REU – Due January 2020 (Tentative)
- Boston University: Bioinformatics REU – Due February 17, 2020
- Boston University: SURF Program – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Brandeis University: Life Sciences REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard (SROH) – Due February 1, 2020 (Opens November 1, 2019)
- Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology – Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens December 2019)
- University of Chicago: Marine Biology SRE -Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens December 2019)
- Northeastern University: Biology REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Tufts University: REU in Engineering – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- Tufts University: REU in Biology -Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- UMass Boston: REU in Evolutionary Biology – Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens late Fall 2019)
- Kettering University REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Michigan State University W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS REU) – Due March 2020- Tentative (Opens December 2019)
- Plant Genomics at MSU REU Program -Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- REU: Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Michigan Interdisciplinary REU Program in the Structure and Function of Proteins – Due February 1, 2020
- Mississippi State University: REU in Computational Biology – Due March 1
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Research Internship – Due February 2020 (Opens November 2019)
- Missouri Botanical Garden REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Missouri NeuroREU – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Research -Due March 2020- Tentative
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas: REU in Evolution – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- Princeton University: Summer Research in Molecular Biophysics – Due January 31, 2020
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute Summer Internship – Due February 1, 2020
- Rutgers University: Computational Biology REU
- University of New Mexico – Sevilla Field Station REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- American Museum of National History Undergraduate Fellowship – Due February 15, 2020 (Opens January 2020)
- Boyce Thompson Institute Research Internships – Due February 7, 2020 (Opens Mid November 2019)
- City College of New York Summer Research in Biochemistry – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Undergraduate Research – Due January 15, 2020
- Cornell University: Molecular Biology & Genetics (MBG-REU) – Due January 2020 (Tentative)
- Brooklyn Urban Ecology and Environment (BUEE) Program – Due April 1, 2020- Tentative (Opens January 2020)
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies NSF Program
- New York University Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Wadsworth Center REU Program – Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens late Fall 2019)
- North Carolina State University Biotechnology Program-Due February 1, 2020
- UNC Greensboro Math-Biology REU – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of North Dakota REU – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- Miami University: REU in Ecology – Due January 2020- Tentative (Opens Mid November 2019)
- Ohio State University: REU in Molecular Genetics – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Central Oklahoma: REU in Math & Science – Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Oregon: REU in Molecular Biosciences -Applications Open December- Rolling Basis
- Exploration of Marine Biology on the Oregon Coast – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- TECBio REU @ Pitt – Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens mid November 2019)
- University of Puerto Rico: REU in Tropical Ecology -Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- Clemson University: Biophysics Summer REU – Due February 15, 2020- Tentative (Opens late Fall 2019)
- Fort Johnson Summer Undergraduate Research Program – Due February 14, 2020
- University of Georgia: Savannah River Ecology Laboratory – Due January 31, 2020
- University of South Dakota: Sustainable RIVER Project – Due February 2020- Tentative
- University of Tennessee: REU in Microbiology –
- Due March 2020 (Tentative)
- Rice University REU in BioNetworks -Due February 2020- Tentative (Opens November 2019)
- Texas A & M University: SRE in Biochemistry – Due February 1, 2020
- Blandy Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program – Due February 15, 2020
- University of Virginia: Mountain Lake Biological Station REU – Due February 20, 2020
- Genome Sciences Summer Research – Due February 1, 2020
- Center for Neurotechnology REU – Due January 15, 2020
- Marquette University Undergraduate Summer Research Program – Due February 2020 (Tentative)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison SRE – Due February 15, 2020 (Opens November 1, 2019)