Getting Started in Undergraduate Research

Because there are many pathways to finding a research opportunity at UNC, students sometimes wonder where to start. We encourage undergraduates to start by learning about their options and connecting with students, faculty, and OUR staff before engaging in research.

Learn

Explore new areas and learn more about what interests you. Discover who’s doing research on campus that piques your curiosity and begin to ask your own questions. Learn the methods of the discipline that will enable you to get involved in research.

Take courses. Many students at UNC start their research in a class. Click here to find classes that can help you find out what research is like in a particular field, to learn techniques for conducting research, or to begin to do your own research.
Surf department websites to learn which professors and graduate students are doing research that interests you.
Browse the OUR website and Database of Research Opportunities often to look for new opportunities. Explore the research happening at UNC’s Research Centers and Institutes. If you are interested in Biological/Biomedical Research, use the BBSP site to learn about research happening in labs across campus.
Read about undergraduate research through peer publications like JOURney.
Attend workshops via the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Explore research guides curated by UNC’s library, including those detailing generative AI and its relationship to research.
Attend symposia and colloquia in your department.
Take a short course on research methods at the Odum Institute or attend a workshop, training, or consultation at the Makerspace.
Learn how other students are doing research at the annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research.
Consult OUR guides for research in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

Connect

Connect with others in the research community and find ways to do your own research. Finding a research mentor (usually a faculty member, a postdoctoral fellow, or a graduate student) is a helpful way to find guidance and exposure to more opportunities. Finding the right mentor for your research may take perseverance, so ask OUR staff, Department Liaisons, and/or Student Ambassadors to help you navigate your research path and make connections.

Meet with an OUR Faculty Liaison or Director of Undergraduate Studies in your department to get a faculty perspective on how to get involved in research and to make connections between your research interests and faculty doing similar work.
Meet with OUR Student Ambassadors to hear a student’s perspective and to get ideas for networking and finding research opportunities.
Connect with professors and graduate students doing research that interests you. Go to office hours or email (see Tips for Emailing Faculty) to request an appointment. Once you learn about their projects, you can ask if they are looking for undergraduate research support.
Connect with University librarians to learn about Carolina faculty research expertise, publications and performances, and review the websites of faculty whose work interests you.
Meet with someone from the Office for Undergraduate Research to ask questions and to chart your next steps. See our Staff page to make an appointment with Dr. Bob Pleasants.

Engage

After you’ve learned about research opportunities and connected with a research mentor, you’re ready to get started. You can support faculty or graduate students in their research projects, engage in course-based research for credit, or find funding for your own original research project.

Work with faculty or graduate students doing mentored research in a volunteer or paid research project, or take a research-intensive course for credit.
Apply for funding through a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) or a Summer Award for Research-Intensive Courses, or use the Embark Carolina Funding Finder or the Carolina Internal Funding Database to look for other sources grants, awards, and fellowships.
Join or create an Undergraduate Research Consultant Team (URCT).
Present your research at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research or use a Travel Award to attend a conference.
Register for the Carolina Research Scholars Program (CRSP) to earn a transcription designation for your research experience.

Beyond the OUR

The Office for Undergraduate Research is one of many units across UNC-Chapel Hill that provides opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research. Our office also works to direct and connect you with other research opportunities across campus, so continue to explore our website to discover our opportunities database, summer research opportunities, which research centers and institutes exist at UNC-CH, the BBSP site, venues for presenting and/or publishing research, and so much more.

We also encourage you to check out our FAQ page to learn more about undergraduate research and the OUR. If there’s ever a way we can help, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We love talking about undergraduate research and connecting students with research opportunities because we believe that every undergraduate at UNC-CH should have the opportunity to engage in research, and we’ll do everything we can to make sure you can achieve your research goals at Carolina and beyond.