Illinois Office of
Undergraduate Research

blog posts

• Now accepting submissions for Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018

  Oct 2, 2017 10:00 am597 views

  The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is now accepting submissions for the 2018 Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS), set for Thursday, April 19. The URS is the signature event of Undergraduate Research Week (April 15-21), and brings together students, faculty, and staff from all disciplines on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, as well as corporate partners and sponsors, to learn more about undergraduate research and its potential to change the world.

  For more information on Undergraduate Research Week, the URS, and OUR programs, please visit our website at: http://undergradresearch.illinois.edu/researchweek.html

  Deadline for submitting an application to the URS is Friday, February 16, 2018, at 11:59 pm. The application can be found at http://go.illinois.edu/urs

  Questions may be addressed to ugresearch@illinois.edu; please put “URS Application” in the subject line.

• RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES: Health and Social Media Group

  Sep 11, 2017 1:15 pm790 views

  There are currently two research opportunities available from the Social Action Lab. This research group uses a cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge approach to understand the mechanisms that explain thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. Further details can be found here.

• Undergraduate Research Support Grant Fall 2017 applications now being accepted

  Sep 4, 2017 9:00 am395 views

  The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is now accepting applications for the Research Support Grant (RSG). This grant provides students from all disciplines with the funds necessary to conduct research or creative projects during the academic year both on and off campus (including summer terms). Awards will be up to $2,000 and are meant to cover research travel costs, living expenses incurred during academic breaks (i.e., winter break and summer terms, NOT regular semester living expenses), and materials or other ancillary costs.  We hope that this competition will both broaden and deepen the types of research being conducted by undergraduate students on campus, and that the recipients are able to use this opportunity as a way of engaging with their fields.

  For details, eligibility requirements, and link to the application please visit: http://go.illinois.edu/OUR_RSG

  Deadline for applications will be Thursday, October 19, at 11:59 p.m.

   

  Questions may be addressed to ugresearch@illinois.edu

• Fall 2017 Drop-In Hours for Office of Undergraduate Research

  Aug 28, 2017 9:00 am1476 views

• Getting Started in Undergraduate Research Workshops - Fall 2017 Calendar

  Aug 25, 2017 9:00 am6962 views

  The Office of Undergraduate Research announces its Fall 2017 calendar for the Getting Started in Research Workshop (GSIRW). These workshops provide an overview of the various forms of undergraduate research that take place on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, and guide students to develop a plan of action to locate relevant research opportunities on campus and discuss ways to contact faculty research mentors.

• Undergraduate Research Opportunity on the Genomics of Pathogenic Fungi

  Aug 23, 2017 9:00 am280 views

  An undergraduate research opportunity is available to study genomes of pathogenic fungi. The project runs for the 2018 calendar year, including summer. Students with sophomore or junior standing for 2018 are eligible for the project. Pre-dental students are especially encouraged to apply. Full details about the project and application information are available at http://vetmed.illinois.edu/fungal-genomes. 

• Beckman Program Provides Undergrads with Research Experience, Professional Development

  Aug 14, 2017 9:30 am0 views

  This summer, 10 undergraduate students performed research at the forefront of advanced imaging and microscopy technologies through the “Discoveries in Bioimaging” Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Funded by the National Science Foundation, the 10-week program, which ended Aug. 4, allowed the students to experience life as a graduate student.

• 2017 Undergraduate Research Week Award Winners!

  May 19, 2017 11:45 pm2631 views

  Congratulations to our 2017 Undergraduate Research Week award winners! 

• #IMPARTOFIT - Undergraduate Research Week

  Apr 18, 2017 4:45 pm223 views

  Dear Presenters,The Office of Undergraduate Research is excited to announce its inaugural #IMPARTOFIT campaign. All students presenting at Undergraduate Research Week events (including the Undergraduate Research Symposium) are eligible for a chance to win a $25, $35, and $50 gift card to the Illini Union Bookstore. Promote your research for a chance to win! For instructions on how to be part of it, please see the brochure below (also attached to this post):

   

• Undergraduate Research Week 2017 (April 23 - 29) - Program is Posted!

  Apr 17, 2017 1:00 pm186 views

  URW 2017 is Coming…..

  Undergraduate Research Week 2017 is almost upon us (April 23-29; with a few early birds beginning this week), and its bigger than ever! URW showcases the best of undergraduate research and creative inquiry at the U of I. Campus events include workshops on getting started in research, special exhibits, and colloquia sponsored by individual departments, programs, and units, highlighting the best of our students’ work. The Undergraduate Research Symposium, URW’s day-long signature event, will see hundreds of students from all academic disciplines share their research through oral panels, poster presentations, and performances. A highlight of the Symposium is our special lunch time session, with 4 of our best and brightest demonstrating the range of research that occurs at Illinois, from the scarcity of African-Americans in STEM fields to the future of renewable energy. We invite you to come be inspired!

  You can find the program attached to this email, and on our website at: http://undergradresearch.illinois.edu/researchweek.html

  Stay up-to-date on URW events by following us on Twitter @ugresearch_UI and Facebook @UGResearchIllinois

• Getting Started in Undergraduate Research Workshop - April 26, 2017

  Apr 14, 2017 11:00 am248 views

  In the Getting Started in Research Workshop (GSIRW), we will provide an overview of the various forms undergraduate research that take place on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus and guide students to develop a plan of action to locate relevant research opportunities on campus and discuss ways to contact faculty research mentors.

• Undergraduate Research Support Grant applications now being accepted

  Feb 3, 2017 2:45 pm323 views

  The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is now accepting applications for the Research Support Grant (RSG). This grant provides students from all disciplines with the funds necessary to conduct research or creative projects during the academic year both on and off campus (including summer terms). Awards will be up to $2,000 and are meant to cover research travel costs, living expenses incurred during academic breaks (i.e., winter break and summer terms, NOT regular semester living expenses), and materials or other ancillary costs.  We hope that this competition will both broaden and deepen the types of research being conducted by undergraduate students on campus, and that the recipients are able to use this opportunity as a way of engaging with their fields.

  For details and eligibility requirements please visit: http://go.illinois.edu/OUR_RSG

  Deadline for applications will be Wednesday, March 1, at 11:59 p.m.

  Questions may be addressed to ugresearch@illinois.edu

• Spring 2017 Conference Travel Grant Competition

  Jan 30, 2017 10:00 am851 views

• Joint Area Centers Symposium on Governing Globalization – Call for Undergraduate Research Presentation and Poster Proposals

  Jan 30, 2017 9:00 am31 views

  LAS Global Studies would like to invite paper and poster proposals from undergraduate students at the University of Illinois  for the  Joint-Area Centers Symposium on Governing Globalization, organized by the Center for Global Studies (CGS). The symposium will be held on March 31 and April 1. There are two opportunities for undergraduate participation at the event, the first of which is a four speaker panel to be held on Friday, March 31 and the second being a research poster session on Saturday, April 1.  

  Please see the attached Call for Proposals for more information.

  Proposals for papers and posters are due by February 28, 2017.

• Spring 2017 Drop-In Hours for Office of Undergraduate Research

  Jan 23, 2017 9:00 am260 views

• Working with Data for Undergrads! Creating Data Documentation

  Oct 20, 2016 1:45 pm126 views

  Writing project, code, and data documentation doesn’t need to be the worst part of your day. This hands on workshop will give you experience using various types of documentation, discuss strategies for writing documentation, and get you started writing a template for your projects. Bring a dataset you’d like to work with but examples will be provided.

  Join us for this interactive session that will give you concrete answers to your data questions!

  DATE: Thursday, October 27, 2016 from 4-5pm

  Registration is free: https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/8203064 

  LOCATION: 314 Main Library - The workshop will be held in the Main Library, Library 314. Take the north stairwell (Armory and Wright Street entrance) to the 3rd floor of the Main Library and make a left at the top of the stairs.

  For more information: http://researchdataservice.illinois.edu/ 

• “Writing an Undergraduate Research Paper” Workshop

  Oct 18, 2016 12:45 pm126 views

  Global Studies will be offering a writing workshop titled “Writing an Undergraduate Research Paper” on Thursday, October 20th from 2pm to 3:30pm in 223 Gregory Hall. This workshop is a part of the LAS Student Success Workshop series and help students write fact-based college-level papers. We will discuss tips to research for class assignments, creating coherent arguments and methods for staying on track with submission deadlines. Students attending this session must bring a term/research paper they have been working on at the time of the workshop.

• Undergraduates, publish your research at Re:Search

  Oct 17, 2016 3:45 pm51 views

  Are you an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois looking to publish your work? Re:Search, the Undergraduate Literary Criticism Journal at the University of Illinois, is seeking submissions for its fourth annual publication! Re:Search is an undergraduate-produced, peer-reviewed online journal that is designed to annually publish works exclusively authored by undergraduate students.

• New Undergraduate Research Support Grant! Applications now being accepted!

  Oct 14, 2016 2:45 pm335 views

  The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) announces its new Research Support Grant (RSG), which replaces the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship-Abroad (SURF-A), and Research Travel Grant. The goals for this new grant are to provide students from all disciplines with the funds necessary to conduct research or creative projects during the academic year both on and off campus (including summer terms). Awards will be up to $2,000 and are meant to cover research travel costs, living expenses incurred during academic breaks (i.e., winter break and summer terms, NOT regular semester living expenses), and materials or other ancillary costs.  There will be two application cycles every academic year – one at the beginning of the Fall semester, and one at the beginning of the Spring semester.

  For details and eligibility requirements please visit: http://go.illinois.edu/OUR_RSG

  Deadline for applications will be Monday, November 14, at 11:59 p.m.

  Questions may be addressed to ugresearch@illinois.edu

• Fall 2016 Conference Travel Grant Competition

  Sep 19, 2016 7:00 am1474 views

• Undergraduate Research Opportunity on Bacterial Motility

  Sep 12, 2016 3:45 pm277 views

  The laboratory of Professor Yann Chemla in the Department of Physics is offering an opportunity for an undergraduate to work on a research project on bacterial motility. We work on studying motion of bacteria at both the single cell and population level using sophisticated instrumentation tailored for particular applications. A major focus of our work is on studying how the motion of the bacteria changes in response to environmental cues such as chemicals and light.  

• Undergrads, publish your research! The Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research is accepting submissions.

  Aug 30, 2016 12:30 pm203 views

  The Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research is accepting student manuscript submissions from any discipline for publication in their 2017 issue. We encourage all UIUC undergraduate students to discuss publication opportunities with their mentors. Remember, there are many benefits to publishing your work including:

  1. To help improve writing and research skills.

  2. To experience the scholarly publication process.

  3. To connect with professors and researchers.

  4. To display leadership and initiative.

  5. To professionalize the undergraduate experience.

  6. To inform a future career path.

   

• HackCulture - Humanities Focused Hackathon

  Aug 25, 2016 11:45 am152 views

  Calling all undergraduate humanists! HackCulture 2016, a humanities focused hackathon will take place from 3:00pm October 1st to 3:00pm on October 22nd. Deadline for applications: 5:00pm, September 16.

• 2016 Undergraduate Research Week Award Winners

  May 10, 2016 10:15 am2143 views

• URS Poster Presenters: Archive Your Presentation

  Apr 28, 2016 4:15 pm106 views

  Congratulations on presenting your work at the recent Undergraduate Research Symposium! Would you like to make your presentation available online? Submit your poster – or any undergraduate work! – to the institutional repository. Find out how to submit your work to IDEALS. 

   

• NCSA - SPIN (Students Pushing Innovation) Program Open House on March 31

  Mar 30, 2016 4:15 pm68 views

  Undergraduate students along with faculty and staff mentors are invited to join us for a SPIN (Students Pushing Innovation) Program Open House on March 31 from 3-5pm in the NCSA atrium. Undergraduates are encouraged to come learn about available projects and discuss their interests with program mentors. Students will be able to learn about NCSA research projects, and discuss available research positions. Snacks will be provided. 

  For more information, please visit http://spin.ncsa.illinois.edu/.

• Undergraduate International Area Studies Research Workshop

  Mar 9, 2016 4:45 pm143 views

  Undergraduate International Area Studies Research Workshop
  

  Do you have a research paper on an international, global, or regionally focused topic you’d like to develop further? Or are you planning or working on a thesis on a topic involving a foreign country or region? Apply today to join the undergraduate international area studies workshop which will take place from May 16 - 20, 2016. Details on application and benefits inside.

   

• Research opportunity in toxicology undergraduates from under-represented minorities

  Mar 3, 2016 4:45 pm330 views

  The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in Toxicology (SURE Tox) program at the University of Illinois will provide high quality research experiences for under-represented minority junior and senior undergraduate students during the summer academic break.  The program involves active participation by faculty members from several departments and colleges at the University of Illinois, all of whom have expertise in toxicology and experience training undergraduate students.  The program also interacts with the PEER and the Environmental Toxicology Program.

• 2016 SURF-Abroad Suspended

  Feb 17, 2016 12:30 pm125 views

  We regret to announce that we are suspending the 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship-Abroad (SURF-A). We hope to offer it again in summer 2017. 

• Image of Research – UR Edition Competition 2016

  Feb 11, 2016 1:30 pm277 views

  The Image of Research - UR Edition 2016 is now taking submissions.

  Have you constructed data visualizations for your research? Have you taken photos of your original student work? 

  Image of Research is a multidisciplinary competition celebrating the diversity and breadth of undergraduate research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. All undergraduate students are invited to submit entries consisting of an image and brief text that articulates how the images relates to the research.

  Awards: First prize: $300 Second prize: $200 Additionally, there may be up to two honorable mentions.

  All submissions will be displays at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 21, 2016. 

  See examples of past winners and all submissions: http://imageofresearch.omeka.net/

  Submission form: https://illinois.edu/sb/sec/48397

  Deadline for submissions: 12pm CST Sunday, March 27, 2016

  For more information, please see the Image of Research-UR website

  Questions should be addressed to sc@library.illinois.edu

  The Image of Research is organized by the Scholarly Commons of the University Library and the Office of Undergraduate Research and is supported by a generous gift to the Scholarly Commons from the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Applications Now Open

  Feb 4, 2016 10:30 am4998 views

  Office of Undergraduate Research - Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Applications Now Open. 

• Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Internships in Bio-Humanities, 2016-17

  Jan 28, 2016 11:15 am499 views

  Are you a life science or bio-engineering major interested in philosophy, politics, history, and literature?  Are you a humanities major who also dabbles in biochemistry, molecular biology, endocrinology, or neuroscience? Are you interested in exploring how the sciences and the humanities are together generating new areas of research?

  The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is looking for undergraduate interns to work with its Bio-humanities research group for the academic year 2016–2017.DEADLINE TO APPLY: MARCH 1, 2016.

• Form Teams, Mine Texts, Defend the Humanities, Win $$$ !

  Jan 25, 2016 2:45 pm60 views

  4Humanities.org announces its “Shout Out For the Humanities” student prize contest. Prizes are offered for best undergraduate (1st prize: US $1,000 – 2nd: $700 – 3rd: $300) and best graduate student (1st prize: US $1,000 – 2nd: $700 – 3rd: $300) submissions from any nation that speak up for the value of the humanities in today’s society.

  4Humanities wants to showcase student ideas and voices on such questions as:

  "Why is studying the humanities — e.g., history, literature, languages, philosophy, art history, media history, and culture — important to you? To society? How would you convince your parents, an employer, a politician, or others that there is value in learning the humanities?"

  Submissions will be judged by an international panel of distinguished judges for message, quality, and impact no matter the medium or format. Possible submissions include: essay (less than 2,000 words), video, digital work, poster, cartoon, song, art, short story, interview.

  Submissions are due March 1, 2016.

  Submission Guidelines • Contest Kit • Judges 

  See more at: http://4humanities.org/category/4humanities-advocacy-projects/shout-out-for-humanities-student-contest/#sthash.5GACr9kX.dpuf

  Why is studying the humanities important? - A workshop

  Date/time: Thursday Feb 4, 6-7 pm

  Where: Main Library, Room 314

  At this workshop, Sayan Bhattacharyya, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, will show interested students how the HathiTrust+Bookworm tool (partly developed here at UIUC), and a Word Similarity Tool (built at Cornell University) can help students interested in participating in the contest to construct philological arguments using text-mining of the digitized contents of the world's great research libraries, supporting their entries. 

  Students will be encouraged to form student teams from among other interested attendees at the workshop. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students.

  Details of the contest are at:

  http://4humanities.org/category/4humanities-advocacy-projects/shout-out-for-humanities-student-contest/ 

• Conference Travel Grants - Spring/Early Summer

  Jan 25, 2016 11:00 am182 views

  Conference travel grant applications for Spring and early Summer 2016 now open. Deadline for applications is February 22, 2016. Application is available here. Notification of grants will be made after the competition has closed.

• Undergraduate Research Opportunity at the Mayo Clinic!

  Oct 15, 2015 9:45 am1249 views

• New Undergraduate Research Opportunity for Fall 2015

  Sep 17, 2015 5:45 pm1060 views

• Fall 2015 Conference Travel Grant Competition

  Sep 14, 2015 10:45 am181 views

• Undergraduate Network for Research in the Humanities (UNRH)

  Aug 28, 2015 1:00 pm145 views

  Conference opportunity for students involved in digital humanities reearch and projects!

   

• Call for Papers -- Undergraduate Research Conference Opportunity

  Aug 28, 2015 12:45 pm114 views

• Undergraduate Research Course

  Aug 5, 2015 10:15 am272 views

• 2015 Undergraduate Research Week Award Winners

  Jun 1, 2015 10:15 am1307 views

• New Undergrad Research Opportunity Fall 2015

  Jun 1, 2015 10:15 am812 views

• New Undergraduate Research Opportunities

  May 11, 2015 10:15 am832 views

• New Conference Travel Grant Competition Now Open

  Apr 1, 2015 3:00 pm66 views

• Community Health Research Internship Available for Undergraduates at UofI

  Mar 20, 2015 3:00 pm562 views

• Tips and Tricks for Oral Presentations

  Mar 17, 2015 3:00 pm177 views

  Get some tips on giving an oral presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

• Facilitating Student Growth and Elevating Access: The Inaugural Edition of Peer Review

  Mar 17, 2015 1:30 pm21 views

• Image of Research - UR Edition Competition

  Feb 24, 2015 2:30 pm70 views

• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

  Feb 10, 2015 12:15 pm264 views

  Deadline for applications to Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) (formerly SURP), are due February 20.

• 2014 Undergraduate Research Week Award Winners!

  May 1, 2014 9:00 am216 views

  Congratulations to our 2014 Undergraduate Research Week award winners!