research meaning college

Research University vs Teaching University: Which is Right for You?

Choosing the right college or graduate school may be one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Whether you’re looking for a great bachelor’s degree program or you’re ready to move on to the graduate level, there are many factors to consider, such as reputation, cost, geography, and size of student body. And then there’s whether the school’s main focus is research or teaching ...

Key Takeaways

• Research universities are divided into subdivisions within a specific area and primarily focused on research advancement. Teaching universities place a greater emphasis on creating superior undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
• A research university is for students who are motivated, passionate, and eager to learn about a particular topic of study. Teaching schools are best for students who like to play it safe by beginning with an undeclared major and relying more on a mentor’s advice and class instructions.
• A teaching university has a more straightforward admission process than a research university.

Research University and Teaching University: Exploring the Differences

In higher education, it is common to distinguish between research and teaching universities. Research institutions put a premium on research; teaching universities put a premium on teaching.

This distinction seems simple and obvious, but it’s not. The aim of this article is to clarify this distinction and thereby help you to decide whether a teaching or research university is best for you.

The terms “research university” and “teaching university” suggest that we are talking only about schools that call themselves “universities.” But that’s not the case. Some schools that call themselves “colleges” are in fact full-fledged research universities (such as Boston College ).

At the same time, some schools that call themselves “colleges” and their focus mainly on teaching and undergraduate education will fall under “teaching universities.” Perhaps it would have been easier if the distinction had instead been made between “teaching colleges and universities” on the one hand and “research colleges and universites” on the other. But we’re stuck with “research universities” and “teaching universities.”

One final complication: all research universities place a high value on teaching, and many top four-year liberal arts colleges expect their faculty to be doing high-quality research. So in the distinction between research and teaching universities, research and teaching are not mutually exclusive.

No one can take away from you the steadiness that education brings to your life. You boost your chances of finding better employment possibilities and widen your career options by being well-educated and obtaining a college degree.

The college we choose will have a long-term effect on our personal and professional lives. On that basis, rather than choose a random college for your higher education, choose an institution you think you’ll fit perfectly.

When choosing between a research university vs. a teaching university, it’s essential to know the merits of each to help you decide on the best option for you.

How Classes are Conducted in a Research University vs. a Teaching University

Regardless of their differences, research and teaching universities have similarities in terms of lecture content and faculty ability. However, a few significant distinctions exist in how courses are run in research and teaching universities.

Student-teacher ratio

The average student-faculty ratio is 14:1. Public research schools have a substantially greater student-to-faculty ratio than teaching institutions because of the bigger student body and comparable class demand. Public schools usually have a student-faculty ratio of 19:1, while private institutions practice 8:1.

Having smaller class sizes can be a huge benefit for some students. Not only does it allow students to build a closer bond with their professor and other students, but it also has the potential to boost student achievement and retention. According to the University of South Florida , smaller class sizes allowed for more discussion-based teaching, one-on-one interaction, and hands-on learning.

Office Hours

Regardless of the institution type and major, college is challenging. And one of the best ways to make it less difficult is to talk with your professors regarding course materials. Hence, office hours are another significant distinction between a research university and a teaching university.

Nearly every student needs academic guidance at some point. Students typically take advantage of office hours to discuss any class-related topics, including questions, lecture materials, and other topics.

Teaching universities often provide the best office hours. Since these universities have a smaller population than research institutions, approaching faculty members is easier.

In public research universities, because of their massive student body, office hours are frequently crowded with students circling a faculty member or teaching assistants to advise or discuss problems.

You should expect office hours at research universities to be busier and more difficult to contact your professors directly.

Employment Of Teaching Assistants (TA)

Most research universities frequently obtain help from teaching assistants. Professors alone cannot handle large class sizes all the time. Teaching assistant assist in laboratories, grade exams, and facilitate group discussions as part of their duties as Graduate Student Instructors (GSI) in sharing the professor’s workload.

Research work is always prioritized in research schools, as was already noted, and with the support of TAs, academics have more time to focus on their research projects.

Admission Requirements

Due to their lower levels of competition, teaching universities frequently have less stringent admission standards than research universities in terms of required entrance exam scores or supporting documentation.

For students who are thinking of continuing their education with master’s or doctoral programs, going to a research institution during their undergraduate program might boost their chances of admission. This is because students will typically receive better training at research universities for postgraduate work. Additionally, students who went to research institutions might have had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the top researchers in their field, bolstering their resume and skill set.

Test Scores Criteria

Aside from more stringent academic and research programs, research institutions have higher standards for admission. The highest GPA alone won’t secure you a spot in research universities, but the contrary would be true for most teaching institutions.

Research universities have applicants from all over the world with outstanding grades and educational achievements; thus, they have specific exam score standards to narrow down the pool of candidates.

Since research schools also consider an applicant’s extracurricular activities and academic accomplishments, a high GPA only influences admission decisions in half of the cases.

What is a research university?

A research university is any university that invests heavily in research, and which consequently provides meaningful and extensive opportunities for its students and faculty to participate in research.

Research universities are classified into different tiers based on their quantifiable commitment to research activities. This tiered ranking is called the Carnegie Classification. These classifications are an indication of both prestige and commitment to research among colleges and universities. Carnegie ranks schools on separate tiers based on a quantitative formula that, for doctoral programs, measures the number of degrees conferred versus research dollars spent, and for master’s programs, measures the number of degrees conferred versus the size of the student body.

Find out more about the Carnegie Classifications .

Research institutions may be privately or publicly funded, though all conduct rigorous ongoing fundraising campaigns to support the work of department faculty and staff, as well as provide capital for laboratories, technology and fellowships. The top research universities are typically also those with the largest endowments for research. Because of these endowments, top research institutions are often in a position to attract prominent faculty, who are drawn by higher compensation and the ability to conduct original research in their fields.

Contrary to the popular misconception that professors at research universities are either ill-suited for, or uninterested in, teaching, many professors at these elite institutions are passionate about sharing their knowledge and experience with the next generation of scholars and scientists. Some would even argue that professors at research universities, by devoting themselves to pressing the boundaries of knowledge, tend to make better and more engaged teachers than those who merely repeat what has already been learned.

• The Best Research Universities in the US
• Find the research universities in your state

Why are research universities important?

Research universities invest heavily in technology and research facilities, and are therefore often the site of important findings, exciting innovations, and medical breakthroughs. Top research universities around the world have invented the first digital computers, performed the first successful heart/lung transplants, and developed crucial drugs and vaccines.

As a prospective graduate student, you will likely find a greater variety and depth of concentrations at schools designated M1 (master’s programs at top research institutions) or R1 (doctoral programs at top research universities). This may be attributed to the presence of more prominent, influential, and specialized faculty and greater financial resources.

Moreover, because top-tier research universities are generously endowed, most have the funding to support costly but potentially groundbreaking research efforts. Many top research universities are large, multi-campus schools with tens of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Prospective students, especially at the undergraduate level, must decide whether or not this large campus experience is a good fit before enrolling in a top-tier research university.

The benefits of attending a top-tier M1 or R1 school are consequential. Students who want to do research still as undergraduates will want to attend a research university for their bachelor’s degree. Moreover, M1 or R1 schools carry a a level of intellectual horsepower that truly matters in the pursuit of a master’s or doctoral degree. Prospective graduate students seeking an experience that challenges their minds and emphasizes hands-on research will want to attend an M1/M2 or R1/R2 school.

What is a teaching university? How is a teaching university different from a research university?

A teaching university is a school that emphasizes student instruction, support, and success. Teaching universities, more appropriately called “liberal arts colleges” lack the massive endowments and government grants enjoyed by the top research universities, and therefore focus less on research. Instead, teaching universities focus on the nurture and training of students, striving to give them the opportunities and tools they need to succeed.

• The Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the US
• Find the best liberal arts colleges in your state

Teaching universities often dispense with many of the traditional large campus perks, such as large athletics budgets and extravagant students centers. In their place, teaching universities may offer smaller class sizes, more accessible instructors, and more practical support in areas like writing and exam preparation.

Teaching universities elevate different priorities than research universities. For students and faculty who prefer more direct instruction, engagement, and enrichment, teaching universities often create the space for these personalized experiences. While professors at top research universities must balance their teaching responsibilities alongside research and publishing goals, faculty at teaching universities are encouraged to make direct student instruction their top priority.

The best teaching universities are the top four-year liberal arts colleges. These are schools like Amherst College, Swarthmore College, and Harvey Mudd College. Class sizes at these schools are small and the campus culture encourages tight bonds between professors and students. Professors at these schools will conduct original research. Moreover, their teaching load is low (one or two classes a term), so that they can be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students.

The worst teaching universities are those where faculty are overworked, teaching too many courses a term, burdened with administrative (and sometimes coaching) duties, and perhaps even expected to do some original research as a means of advancement (such as for being promoted from assistant to associate professor). If you’re going to attend a teaching university, make sure the professors are enthusiastic to be teaching there. If they look tired, harried, and jaded, go elsewhere.

Research University versus Teaching University: Which one is right for you?

Your decision will depend on the kind experience you want out of your undergraduate or graduate program, as well as your subsequent educational and professional goals. As you make your decision, ask yourself the following questions:

• What motivates you?
• If your goals include access to influential faculty, a prestigious grad school, and a specialized research concentration, consider a research university.
• If you are motivated by personalized instruction, skill development, and practical education, consider a teaching university.
• What do you need to succeed?
• If you need small class sizes and personalized attention from your professors, choose a teaching university.
• If you are self-directed and don’t mind large class sizes, you could be successful at a research university.
• What can you afford?
• Research universities and teaching universities can be expensive or inexpensive. If you are a resident of a state with a top public research university, then it may be very affordable for you to attend a top-tier research university. On the other hand, you may get scholarship money to attend a teaching university that seems just right for you (where you love the professors and the campus culture). The “sticker price” of a college or university education is often not the real price to you. Try not to let cost determine whether you go to a research or teaching university but instead let the choice depend on what’s best for you.
• What factors are important to you?
• In addition to cost, consider what other factors in your education are important to you. It may geography, campus culture, class size, nationally recognized athletics, etc. Don’t ignore these factors in your decision.
• What are your short-term goals?
• Does a teaching university allow you to take the next intended step in your education or career, or will you need the reputation and research experience only possible through a research university in order to reach that next level?
• What are your long-term goals?
• Will your career ultimately require you to earn an advanced degree at a top-tier research university? Will failing to do so place a ceiling on your job or salary potential?

Use these questions to narrow down what you need and want from your educational experience. Identify your goals, your needs, and your priorities, and then choose the educational experience that best aligns with these variables. Research schools you would like to go to and see which ones might align with your desires.

Students should try to know as much as possible about their future career goals so that they can set themselves up accordingly before pursuing further education. For those who are interested in pursuing graduate school or contributing research to their field, research institutions might be the best route. For those who wish for more professor engagement and support, teaching institutions might be a better fit. Ultimately, you want your decision to feel right and lead to a happy and successful educational experience.

For some helpful background information, take a look at our resource on the Carnegie Classification system .

In your search for a top-tier research university, look at our article on the most influential colleges and universities in the world today.

In your search for a top teaching university, look at our article on the best liberal arts college.

Check out our Guide to Life for Grad Students for more tips and insights on choosing the right advanced degree for you.

Or get valuable study tips, advice on adjusting to campus life, and much more at our student resource homepage .

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What does undergraduate research really look like?

When people say, “research”, what do they mean? A quick search on the internet, usually. But in college, research takes on a whole new meaning.

Jason Keller February 22, 2019

When people say “research,” what do they mean? A quick search on the internet, usually. But in college, research takes on a whole new meaning. At its core, research is looking for the answer to a question that someone else hasn't already answered, building on the body of human knowledge. It's a key part of graduate programs and many career fields — so it's especially valuable to start getting research experience as an undergraduate.

Undergraduate research experience can look like a number of things, according to Janice Dickensheets, faculty fellow in the Office of Undergraduate Research at UNC. It can range from formal, clinical studies, to helping run a publication (like UNC's PUGS or UAP ), to creative works and beyond.

Research seeks to answer questions you can’t look up on your own or to develop things not yet created.

Research should present falsifiable claims and findings that haven't been uncovered yet. A falsifiable claim is a claim that can be disproven by countering studies or statements. As the blog Explorable puts it:

Falsifiability is the assertion that for any hypothesis to have credence, it must be inherently disprovable before it can become accepted as a scientific hypothesis or theory.

Basically, the more a piece of research can stand up to scholarly critiques, the more compelling the research. It should have some mechanism which might allow others to disprove it. This is an important part of the scientific method. Creative work, naturally, is an original piece, and might not be falsifiable.

Every research topic looks different.

The research approach for undergraduates differs depending on the field and focus of research, Dickensheets says. Some common types include working with faculty on their research, enrolling in a research program and conducting your own studies, or even creative endeavors. The actual nature of your research could carry you to the lab to conduct experiments and dissections or across the world to study poaching of endangered animals.

A lot of the time, it’s interdisciplinary.

Undergraduate research can cross disciplines. A student studying cello techniques of the 19th and 20th century might also need to conduct statistical analyses to understand which notes appear most often. Or a doctor trying to figure out if a medicine works could not only take detailed blood samples, but also ask the subjects how the medicine made them feel and then write up a paper on it.

Research can be artistic.

In some institutions, research might look like a manuscript, a book of poems or a sculpture. More traditional types of research include qualitative research (finding answers about the quality of something, such as by interviewing someone about their experience being raised by their grandparents) and quantitative research (using numbers to find answers, such as by conducting a survey where people answer questions about being raised by their grandparents "on a scale of 1-7").

It’s possible to get grants or even get paid.

Some research institutions, such as UNC, provide funds to help facilitate research, fund studies and present at conferences. In some institutions, it might even be possible for undergraduate researchers to take a paid research position in lieu of a job, earning them research experience and also payment. UNC offers stipends and grants to its undergraduate researchers.

Research can be a great way to improve critical thinking…

According to both Dickensheets and a paper written at Samford University by John K. Petrella and Alan P. Jung, undergraduate research can help students understand how the scientific method works or aid them in their ability to answer difficult or abstract questions.

“I think the biggest benefit to undergraduate research is the ability to be a critical thinker. It is one of the places where a student can’t just get away with memorizing and regurgitating answers. They have to think about the question at hand. Figure out what research the world has already done, and posit a solution, interpretation or summarization (generally) of that research, often providing answers or other questions that can become the impetus for additional research.” – Janice Dickensheets

Meet mentors…

Undergraduate research likely will require you to have a faculty member standing by to help you conduct and refine your research or answer any questions you might have. Often times the student will be asked to go and find their own faculty mentor, so it’s important to find one that aligns with your research interests. 

…or position yourself well for graduate school.

“You go to graduate school to do research, so they want to know that you can do research and that you’ll be good at it,” says Matthew Paoletti, then a graduate student studying for his doctorate in physics, in a 2007 Sciencemag.org article . According to the article, 74 percent of graduate students in chemistry had some research experience prior to grad school. A good GPA isn’t nearly as impressive to admissions counselors as a published paper is, according to the University of Illinois press . 

Interested in researching at the undergraduate level? Come visit UNC, and visit the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Honors Program .

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What is undergraduate research, what is research.

Research across disciplines is the  systematic production of new knowledge . The process often includes the following:

• Developing a research question(s);
• Identifying where the research question(s) fits within existing knowledge, often accomplished through a literature review;
• Designing the method of investigating the question and securing the appropriate permissions to conduct your research;
• Collecting and analyzing data/materials, drawing conclusions from that analysis;
• Writing about, presenting and publishing your findings.

You can read more about how "research" is defined nationally by the  NSF/OECD Frascati Manual  (an applicable definition across disciplines and fields)  here .

What is undergraduate research and creative inquiry?

In keeping with national definitions, CCRF defines undergraduate research as follows: 

Undergraduate research is a scholarly or creative investigation that contributes to the systematic production of new knowledge; it is a meaningful activity undertaken with the guidance of a faculty member or other research mentor(s) and is used to enrich the College academic curriculum and student experience through enhanced critical thinking skills and a greater understanding of a chosen discipline(s) and its methodologies.

CCRF joins the  Council on Undergraduate Research  in their endorsement of scholarship by Drs. Jeffrey M. Osborn and Kerry K. Karukstis who argue that four common threads must run through  every undergraduate research activity  on any campus:

• Mentorship.  A serious, collaborative interaction between the faculty mentor and student, in which the student is intellectually engaged in the scholarly problem or project
• Originality.  The student makes a meaningful and authentic contribution to the scholarly problem or project, and the work must be entirely or partially novel
• Acceptability.  Employing techniques and methodologies that are appropriate and recognized by the discipline with a problem or project that includes a reflective and synthetic component
• Dissemination.  Includes a final tangible product for which both the process and results are peer-reviewed, juried, or judged in a manner consistent with disciplinary standards

The term “undergraduate research” encompasses faculty- or discipline-expert directed scholarly research activities and creative endeavors.  CCRF recognizes that these experiences may range from historical scholarship, curatorial research, and laboratory experiences to music composition, creative writing, dramaturgy and data analysis in the social sciences. 

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What is Undergraduate Research?

What is undergraduate research.

Research is a creative and systematic process of asking questions and discovering new knowledge. Any student, regardless of major, year, or experience, can get involved in undergraduate research.

“Find what you love! The sheer abundance of research opportunities at UW can be overwhelming. Take the time to explore what you like.” Sophia Mar Biochemistry Undergraduate

Frequently asked questions about undergraduate research:

Many students who answered these questions are Undergraduate Research Leaders (URLs) with the Office of Undergraduate Research . Click here to learn about the URL program.

Do I need prior research experience(s) to participate in undergraduate research?

No! Most people don’t have any experience with research before college, so it is more than okay to reach out before you have any formal research experience. I would encourage everyone interested in research to look into professors or researchers who conduct research on topics that you are interested in and email them to ask if they have any space in their lab! – Megana Shivakumar

View Megana’s URL profile here .

You definitely do not need prior experience to start researching as an undergrad! Most professors/UW programs supporting undergrad research are more than happy to support students through their first research experience. If you have found a topic or program that interests you, your interest is enough to make you a valuable member of the research process. Also, each research project/lab/program is completely different and will be a new starting point for each person involved even if they already have research experience. – Ruby Barone

When is a good time to start research and/or apply for a research opportunity?

Everyone has a different path to research! I started in high school through a Biomedical Sciences class and continued research at the UW through a summer program before freshman year. With this being said, you do not have to start research this early on. Some students begin research after the fall or winter quarter of Freshman year while others wait until Sophomore year. Personally, I took a break from research my sophomore year and just participated in summer research through an internship. Currently, I am starting in a different lab, so don’t worry about starting later into your undergraduate year as a junior. However, I would suggest reaching out sooner rather than later, so you do not wait until your senior year because you may not have enough time to learn whether you enjoy research or not. – Nisha BK

View Nisha’s URL profile here .

Can/should I do research before I’m in a major?

Yes! I would definitely encourage students to look into getting involved with research before they’re in their major so that you can learn more about the specific topics within your major that interest you. In addition, many PIs like to work with students earlier in their college career so that you can spend more time working in their lab and specializing in your skill set. It’s never too early to start! – Megana Shivakumar

Can I do research outside of my major?

You absolutely can! I conduct research in a Microbiology lab as a Biochemistry major. My research provides me with insight into the unique workings of biochemical assays specifically used with bacteria. For example, I research DNA replication proteins and am working to determine the biochemical mechanism of action for protein-protein interactions that are unique to bacteria using both in-vivo and in-vitro assays. Additionally, many fields are interdisciplinary in their research: in my lab, I get to work with aspects of Microbiology, Virology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry. Having a different major from your research topic can make you a unique asset to a research group, as you may be better equipped to answer questions in ways that come from your major compared to the field of the research you participate in. If you’re passionate about the topic, I would encourage you to pursue the research opportunity! – Tara Young

View Tara’s URL profile here .

Are there research opportunities for students in arts and humanities? (Can only STEM students get involved in research?)

This is one big misconception that I have come across at UW – that research is only STEM-related. This is wrong!! UW has tons of great opportunities for research in the humanities – for example, the Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities is a summer program that supports students through an arts/humanities-centered research project based around a common theme (selected students also receive a financial award and course credit!). The Mary Gates Endowment awards research scholarships to students from all disciplines, and many UW professors in the arts/humanities are also happy to have students reach out to them with research interests that can be pursued on a more one-on-one level with a mentor or instructor. – Ruby Barone

What do research experiences look like in the arts/humanities? Do you bring ideas or is there an assigned project?

Research in the arts/humanities is a lot less structured than how lab-based research and experiments might flow – students can create a research style and project that is tailored to their individual topic and interests, which allows projects to take form as research essays, art forms, performances, video essays, and the list goes on. For research programs like the Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, and for more individualized research that one might work with a faculty member on, you are highly encouraged to bring your own interests and passions to the table. Your mentor(s) will likely provide a basic framework for the final project you are aiming to produce, but they also allow a lot of room for creativity and your own interpretation of your research to take place. For example, my last big research project took form as both a formal research project and an art piece, which ended up being displayed in UW libraries and the UW office of research. Research in the arts/humanities is very fluid, and your project’s form will likely evolve as you learn more about your topic. – Ruby Barone

If I started a research project in high school, can I continue it as an undergraduate?

If you began a research project in high school, it is absolutely up to you and your research mentor whether you want to continue it into your undergraduate career. If you feel passionate and excited about your research, don’t feel obligated to switch topics as you enter undergraduate research. However, I would say that the transition to college can be a great time to try new things and extend yourself as a researcher to learn new skills, techniques, and about new topics! You have a lot of years to experiment with new things. Anecdotally, the research I participated in during high school in seismology is completely different from the research I conduct now in microbiology, and I really value having had that experience in gaining skills in a more “dry lab” environment. Although I now work in a wet lab, there are many skills that can carry over, and it allows you to get a better sense of what excites you as a researcher. – Tara Young

How many hours per week are undergraduates expected to dedicate to research?

It depends. Most professors in STEM fields, from my understanding, expect approximately 9-12 hours per week. That said, you can fulfill these hours whenever it works best with your schedule. Moreover, all professors understand that you are a student first. If there are weeks where you have several exams, for example, or are particularly busy with schoolwork, communicate this to your research mentor! Odds are they will understand that you can’t work on your project as much as usual and it will be totally ok. – Carson Butcher

View Carson’s URL profile here .

How long (how many terms, how many hours per week) are you expected to be in a research experience?

For research in the STEM fields, mentors usually expect 10 hours per week of time commitment. However, it does not mean that you will and must do 10 hours of work every week. You would start easy with ~3 hours per week of training, getting yourself familiarized with the research methodology and protocols. As you gain familiarity and confidence in research methods, you can be more independent and conduct more experiments based on your interest, therefore spending more time in the lab. Mentors usually expect a long-term commitment of a minimum 1 year, and it is reasonable: most of the training, whether wet lab work or computational work, would require at least a quarter of training to gain confidence. You are left with two quarters (or more) of independent research to learn, grow and contribute. – Teng-Jui Lin

View Carson’s Teng-Jui’s profile here .

Can you apply to get basic research skills even if you don’t want a project or without having a specific goal in mind?

I recently transitioned to a new lab, and I do not have a specific project I am working on. I am mostly learning basic biomedical science lab bench work even though I have prior experience. My mentor encouraged me to start from the beginning as if I had no previous experience, so I can relearn the fundamentals. If you want to develop basic research skills, I would highly recommend applying because you will spend time learning techniques in the beginning and your mentor will be there to supervise you. – Nisha BK.

How do you balance schoolwork, work, life, home-life with research?

As a student who juggles a full course load and anywhere between 5-10 extracurriculars every quarter, I understand the struggle of maintaining a healthy work-life balance! Something that has always helped me is organizing my life into a calendar and being very intentional with how I spend my time. Especially when it comes to research, I set clear boundaries with my mentors about when I’ll be working. It also helps that I love everything that I do—I get to study neuroscience, do research, direct a mentorship program, and do a communications internship. It’s so rewarding when you get to do work that you are genuinely passionate about. But of course, we can’t be productive all the time. Make sure to prioritize your health and give yourself time to rest and recharge! – Shannon Hong

View Shannon’s URL profile here .

Additional Resources

• View the UW Libraries Undergraduate Research Tutorial module: Finding Your Balance

Anyone can participate in research and the Office of Undergraduate Research can help!

If you are curious about a subject and can find a mentor who is willing to support your endeavor, you can participate in research. The Office of Undergraduate Research is here to help you find research opportunities and mentors who can help you reach your goals. Check out a variety of undergraduate research projects below!

Jasmine Mae

Jasmine did undergraduate research on the Supreme Courts of the Philippines.

Learn more!

Matthew Nguyen

Matthew is pursuing research to find novel therapy for late-stage prostate cancer.

Meron Girma

Meron conducted research on healthcare accessibility within Ethiopia.

Abi worked to understand the impact of legal discourse on Seattle’s history of racially segregated schools.

Anika Lindley

Anika studied the association between aggression and social functioning in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Daniel Piacitelli

Daniel studies cosmological emissions in metal spectral lines as an Astronomy and Physics student.

Undergraduate Research at Vanderbilt

What is undergraduate research, the council for undergraduate research defines undergraduate research as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.”.

Though many people falsely assume that only professors or graduate students are involved in research, in reality research is integrated into many of our undergraduate academic courses and is featured as the capstone experience in a number of majors. Undergraduate research runs the gamut from biology research in a laboratory to music performance at a senior honors recital. While “research” may conjure images of white lab coats or stacks of leather bound library books, creative activities expand the definition of research to a modern and interdisciplinary realm. From 2D artwork to live performances to artistic historical investigations, many Vanderbilt students expand their academic experiences to a stage, a gallery, or popular media. Many of our undergraduate students also conduct interdisciplinary research across majors, fields, and schools.

Research can also take place in many places and at many times. Vanderbilt offers an exceptional number of opportunities for undergraduate students to do research over the summer, but many students also partake in research right alongside their classwork in Fall and Spring semesters. And although many students do research right here at Vanderbilt, many students also travel to other universities, other cities, other countries, or are supported by types of institutions like government laboratories or privately owned corporations and foundations. Finally, students are not limited by class year, as students from all four years regularly partake in research.

Samples of recent undergraduate research projects and creative activities include:

-Examining the relationship between speech patterns and language in music

-Traveling to New York City to study performing art as a form of activism

-Measuring lung cancer cell growth and drug response in different tissue environments

-Comparing the acoustic properties of speech for preschool students who stutter and those who do not

-Studying corruption in Latin America to predict the public’s acceptance of a military coup

-Working on an archaeological dig in Peru

-Assisting a visiting art professor build bikes with battery powered stereos

-Using an unpublished 15th century book from the Vanderbilt library collection to see how the text and images support women’s devotions in the Middle Ages

-Shadowing and analyzing the behavior of school principles in different school settings

-Creating and updating Wikipedia articles for the Vanderbilt Library Special Collections

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What Is CUR’s Definition of Undergraduate Research?

Undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry is fundamentally a pedagogical approach to teaching and learning. With an emphasis on process, CUR defines undergraduate research as: A mentored investigation or creative inquiry conducted by undergraduates that seeks to make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge. 

What Are the Benefits of Undergraduate Research?

• Enhances student learning through mentoring relationships with faculty
• Increases retention and graduation in academic programs
• Increases enrollment in graduate education and provides effective career preparation
• Develops critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and intellectual independence
• Develops an understanding of research methodology
• Promotes an innovation-oriented culture
• Develops competencies that speak to career-readiness

How Does CUR Support Undergraduate Research?

CUR, incorporated in 1980, is an organization of individual, institutional, and affiliate members from around the world. CUR members share a focus on providing high-quality and collaborative undergraduate research, scholarly, and creative activity opportunities for faculty and students. CUR believes that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduates in research and that students engaged in undergraduate research succeed in their studies and professional advancement.

Among the many activities and networking opportunities that CUR provides, the organization also offers support for the professional growth of faculty and administrators through expert-designed institutes, conferences, and a wide range of volunteer positions. The CUR community continues to provide a platform for discussion and other resources related to mentoring, connecting, and creating relationships centered around undergraduate research. CUR’s advocacy efforts are also a large portion of its work as we strive to strengthen support for undergraduate research. Its continued growth in connections with representatives, private foundations, government agencies, and campuses worldwide provides value to its members and gives voice to undergraduate research.

CUR is committed to inclusivity and diversity in all its activities and our community.

We are your resource. We are the community. We are mentoring. We are CUR.

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Your Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Colleges

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Getting into college is perhaps the most important part of the admissions process. However, deciding where to apply and ultimately attend is also important. How do you research colleges to decide which school is right for you? Here’s our step-by-step guide to looking into colleges.

Step 1: Start Early

Step 2: spend time thinking about your needs and wants, step 3: look online, step 4: ask others for advice, step 5: visit campuses, step 6: demonstrate interest.

Freshman year is not too early to start think about your college list. If you start visiting schools early, you’ll get a better sense of what type of school you’re looking for. For instance, you may think you want a large urban setting, but may discover you actually prefer a small liberal arts school after visiting enough campuses.

Give yourself time to explore. That way, you won’t have to make decisions too quickly. You’ll also be able to research thoroughly , so you don’t come across any surprises senior year—like discovering that the school’s culture is too rowdy for you—or commit to a school about which you don’t know very much.

Don’t let anyone else, including your parents, tell you what you should want. Your personal goals are what really matter in the admissions process.

Make a preliminary list of what you’d like in a college. Check out Kick Off Your College Research This Summer with These 5 Tips for advice on coming up with your ideas. Consider factors such as location, your desired major, the size of the school, the activities it offers, and any other aspects that are important to you. Think about where you would fit in. Having fit—ensuring that your personality and values line up with the school’s—is extremely important. What kind of student body would you fit into? For instance: Are you an introvert? Do you want to be around other introverts, or would you prefer more extroverted peers?

Learn more about having fit in What Does It Mean to Fit with a College? .

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Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.

Everything starts with Google. Looking online can help kick off your research. You’ll see the rankings, selectivity, and if you line up with the typical student statistics. You can also find out which schools have a good reputation for your intended major. For instance, you might search for “creative writing” to find out where you can study your art as an undergraduate.

This is a good starting point , though of course you will need to research schools on your preliminary list much more thoroughly.

One of your best sources of advice is older peers who are in college. They can tell you what it’s really like to go to school at a specific college. However, remember that your experience is going to be unique to you.

You should also talk to admissions reps when they come to your high school or local college fairs. They can tell you about the kinds of students that thrive in the atmosphere and what types of courses and activities are most popular—which can help you gauge if your interests align with those of typical students. Parents and friends can be good resources, too, but ultimately, your own instincts should matter more. For instance, your parents may want you to attend a large Ivy League university, while you might prefer a more intimate, liberal arts setting. Remember that it’s your college experience, so your goals and ideas should come first.

An ideal way to figure out if you mesh well with the culture, people, and environment of a college is by visiting the school. Go on a campus tour, attend an orientation, sit in on courses, and talk to current students to get a feel for what attending school there is really like. You can setting up most of these opportunities through the admissions office. Read How to Make the Most of a Campus Visit to find out about how visiting colleges can help you determine whether it’s a good fit.

If you can’t visit, look for other ways to research the school, such as talking to alumni, having an informational interview, and asking lots and lots of questions. Check out How Can I Figure Out a School’s Culture Without Visiting the Campus? for more ideas.

Show colleges you’re interested in them by going to college fairs, talking to admissions representatives, and signing up to receive information online and by mail.

Not only does this show colleges you’re interested in them, which is important for admissions, but it will allow you to learn more about the school. Even getting a brochure can help you learn about the school’s culture—you’ll find out what they prioritize by what they choose to highlight in the collateral. You can also gain access to admissions forums to ask current students what the school is like. (If you don’t know where to find them, ask an admissions representative or current student.)

Taking Action

Research is an important aspect of the admissions process. As much as it may feel like a college is choosing you, you also need to choose a college that’s right for you. Follow these steps to make sure you know what you want and are informed about your decision about where to apply—and eventually choose to attend school.

For more information about researching colleges, read:

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Seven Tips for Creating Your College List

Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!

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What is Research?

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Research is independent study and discovery in a field of interest. In the sciences, research is usually conducted in a laboratory led by a Principal Investigator (PI) – this is the faculty member who runs a research project. Research addresses a hypothesis, or scientific question. New student researchers typically join an ongoing project in a faculty’s lab and are often trained & supervised by postdoctoral scholars & graduate students.

WHY CONDUCT RESEARCH?

• Conducting independent study complements your studies, your academic goals, and your professional goals
• UCLA is a world-class research institution with prestigious faculty conducting original research in their fields. Take advantage of the resources available to you
• Find out if a career in research is right for you
• Get valuable research experience to make you a competitive applicant for graduate or professional school
• Research can serve as valuable work experience to make you a competitive applicant for your future career
• Earn university credit and funding for your research
• Build meaningful relationships with and receive mentorship from faculty and lab members

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, undergraduate research develops skills in collaborative learning and critical thinking. For students interested in pursuing graduate or professional 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

Some questions to ask yourself as you plan your research are:

• What subjects am I interested in and passionate about?
• How much time can I commit to research?
• Will I need financial support to conduct research throughout the summer and academic year?
• What do I want to gain from my research experience?
• How can I best prepare myself academically and professionally to do research?
• What courses should I take that will complement the work I do?
• 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 are, gaining experience in research will enhance your application and your preparedness for more self-directed research.

Once you have evaluated your research interests and organized your time, the next step is finding a faculty mentor. As part of a collaborative research team, you will need to find the right position both for you and your potential research lab.

You can also take part in UC Online’s ‘Introduction to Research’ class available through the Cross-Campus Enrollment System (CCES). This introductory course will help you understand what research means and provide guidance in how to find a research position.

Do you have a question about getting involved in research? Send us a message through Message Center ( Topic: Beginning Undergraduate Research )!

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What is Research?

Broadly speaking, research can be defined as an investigation or study of particular materials, subject matter, or sources, in order to establish facts or otherwise contribute to a discipline, area, question, or theme.

We can think of research as a cycle, with different, discreet stages. The first stage involves identifying a subject or topic of interest, understanding the topic through a literature review, and developing a question within this landscape. The second stage is to consider how to find the answer to the question you have developed; what methodologies, or approaches, will you use in your research. The methodological approach you choose will depend on your discipline and on the topic you are investigating, but might include anything from data collection to critical analysis to interviews or other forms of research. Finally, research involves drawing conclusions and sharing this information, through publications, conferences or other means, with the wider research community.

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How to Do College Research Right: Step-by-Step Guide

College Admissions , College Info

College research can be an overwhelming task, and it's not easy to know where to begin. In this article, I'll help you sort through your options and find your dream college.

If you work through the following four steps, you'll be well on your way to compiling a list of schools that fulfill all your most important criteria:

• Identify your priorities
• Search with an online college finder
• Consider your chances of admission
• Finalize your list

In the next few sections, we'll cover how to research colleges in a straightforward and effective way.

Step 1: Identify Your Priorities and Preferences

The first step in tackling the college search process involves thinking about what you want out of your college experience. There are some essential qualities that differentiate colleges from one another that you should consider first, such as location, size, cost, and academic programs. You should also contemplate what you want out of the social scene and academic climate at your college. Then, you can search for schools that fit your needs across a variety of different dimensions.

Primary Factors

Here's a list of the first four factors you should consider when searching for colleges:

#1: Location

Do you want to be far away or close to home? Attending an in-state school can mean a lower tuition price, but it may stunt your college experience if you continue to rely on your family and old friends. You should also consider whether you're interested in a rural, urban, or small town college environment. The surrounding area can have a big impact on your happiness and comfort level.

Large and small colleges often have very different vibes. You're more likely to get personalized attention at small colleges , but they might have fewer resources and less diversity amongst students. You should research each college individually, but there are certain characteristics shared by most large or small colleges that might lead you to prefer one type over the other.

#3: Academics

You're going to college primarily to learn stuff, so academics should be up there on your priority list. Just how serious of an academic environment are you looking for? Do you want a school that focuses on undergraduate teaching or research? What types of programs interest you? If you have any ideas about your potential major, keep that in mind as you search for schools so you can apply to places that offer the best programs for you.

Selectivity and reputation also come into play here. Based on your test scores and GPA, you can predict your admissions chances at different schools (more about this later). It's advantageous for you to attend the most competitive school possible based on your stats. This will provide you with the greatest number of opportunities both in college and in your post-graduate endeavors.

Tuition prices are something you should think about in your college search, but don't let a high price prevent you from applying if you really love a school. Right now, you should just work on determining whether cost is an issue for you. If so, focus your search on schools that offer generous financial aid and merit scholarships . You can also investigate colleges with no application fees.

Secondary Factors

This list goes into some other factors to think about in your college search that are less fundamental but can still have a really strong influence on your experience.

#1: Social Scene

This is a vague term, but you should have some idea of what type of social environment you're looking for in college. Do you want to be at a party school? Or are you more of a library-all-day-every-day type? Are you at all interested in Greek life? Do you want to be able to go out to bars and clubs? Make sure the environment at the school you choose will be a fun place for you to spend four years.

#2: Housing

Is it important to you to have a really nice dorm? Do you want to be able to live off campus at some point? Schools may offer more or less variety in housing, so this is definitely worth considering. Universities located in rural areas may have fewer options for living off campus.

Are you looking for a school with lots of dining options? This is important to consider especially if you have special dietary preferences or requirements. Whatever accommodations you need, make sure the schools you choose have the ability to provide them.

#4: Extracurriculars

Think of any extracurricular activities you want to pursue in college. If these are priorities for you, you should ensure that any schools that you're considering have the appropriate resources. Extracurriculars are a huge part of the college experience for most students, and they provide a great social outlet outside of the party scene and classes.

#5: Athletics

If you're hoping to play a sport in college for fun, you should make sure that anywhere you apply will give you that opportunity. Are you planning to work out in college? If this is a priority for you, look for schools that have high-quality athletic facilities and give students full gym access. Many schools offer exercise classes for students at their gyms, which is a really nice perk.

As you consider these factors, you can continue to customize the priority order to fit your needs. Some of the factors I listed as "secondary" might actually be of primary concern to you. If you feel that something is a priority, don't discount it just because other things are "supposed" to be more important. You may even be totally indifferent to some of the factors I've listed (for example, "athletics" are a foreign concept to us hardcore nerds). That's fine too! You can choose to ignore these factors in the next step.

Now that you're armed with your preferences and priorities, it's time to start your college search for realz.

Step 2: Search for Schools Using an Online College Finder

After you've figured out your preferences, the easiest way to find schools that you like is to use an online college finder tool to search based on your criteria.

One option that you might consider initially is College Navigator . You can specify location, size, major program, public or private, tuition, test scores, and more in your search. This tool will give you all the statistics on different schools and help you locate options that seem like the right fit. As you investigate the results of your search, add schools to your "favorites" and compare them side by side to see how they differ. This might eliminate some options based on factors like cost and admissions rate.

Another site to investigate is Cappex . Cappex is a college matchmaking site where you can fill out a profile and get matched up with schools that align with your preferences. The site provides suggestions for schools that you might like after you complete your profile. It has a pretty complete overview of each school including student reviews and information about campus life that might not be included in the College Navigator statistics.

If you find schools that you like, you can add them to your running list and compare them against each other. Cappex also links directly to the application pages for schools on your list of favorites, so you can check out what materials you're expected to submit.

There are also a number of other sites you can use at this stage. The link at the beginning of this section will take you to my reviews of the ten best college search websites. Feel free to use whichever one seems most accessible to you!

Step 3: Consider Admissions Chances and Reputation

Once you've figured out what you want from a college and have gotten some solid suggestions from search sites, you should step back and take an objective look at your results. It's important to maintain realistic expectations in the college application process, so you should choose schools where you have reasonable chances of admission.

Though the sites I mentioned above may give you statistics for a school's average test scores and GPA, it's difficult to understand your chances of admission just by looking at statistics. I would recommend that you Google "(name of school) PrepScholar admissions requirements" to access our database pages about each school. Use the tools on these pages to enter in your GPA and SAT scores and calculate your chances of admission.

In general, if your chances are below 30 percent the school qualifies as a reach school . A school with an admissions rate that's below 15 percent is a reach school for all students regardless of scores and GPA. If all or most of the schools you're interested in are reach schools, it's time to adjust some of your criteria to allow for other options. Only a third of the colleges where you apply should be reaches.

This is also a good time to check ranking lists like US News and Forbes to see whether the colleges that interest you have decent reputations. However, be careful when considering these rankings! If two schools are within ten or so ranks of each other, there probably isn't much of a difference in quality between them.

Rankings are a tool to be used after you've already picked out schools based on other factors. If you're trying to decide between two schools and the lower ranked school is a much better fit for you, then you should still apply to that one. Rankings are more of a tie-breaker to be used when all other measurements are equal. Prestige can be important because it generally means a more intellectual student community and greater academic opportunities, but you should put your personal goals and priorities above the prestige of the school.

After consulting these resources, you'll end up with a better sense of the quality of your preliminary list of schools. This leads to the next step, making your final college list!

Step 4: Make a Final List

Now that you've gathered all of this information, it's time to tweak your list of schools so that it has a nice balance of different options. As I mentioned in the previous section, it's important to have reach schools, but they should only make up about a third of your list. Another third of the schools should be likely options, and the last third should be safety schools .

You can use the same process as above to look up potential likely and safety schools and check your admissions chances. Safety schools are schools where you have at least an 80 percent chance of admission. Likely schools are schools where you have a 30 to 80 percent chance of admission. These can be further divided into "possible" and "probable" options. Possible options will be in the 30-50 percent range, and probable options are between 50 and 80%.

Most students end up applying to around 5-8 colleges in total. Start out with three schools in the reach category, three in the likely category (two probable and one possible), and three in the safety category. Then, if you find that you're overwhelmed by the application fees or the supplementary essays, you can always cut out 2-3 schools. Be honest about whether you can realistically see yourself attending all of the schools on your list.

You should also do some research to check whether the schools on your list use the Common Application or if they require you to fill out separate applications. This can have a big impact on the time you spend on the process. You might decide to eliminate a school from your list if you're not super attached to it and it's the only option that requires an individual application.

Once you've balanced your list, begin brainstorming your application essays and deciding which accomplishments and activities you want to highlight for colleges. Read this article about how to create a versatile application for some more tips!

What's Next?

Now that you know how to do research colleges, you should also be able to put it into practice. Learn more about the application deadlines that will be most critical for you.

College ranking lists can be helpful tools if you use them in the right way. Find out about all the college ranking lists you should read and how much you should rely on them.

Looking to attend a top-notch liberal arts school? Here's a list of the 28 best liberal arts colleges in the country.

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Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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What is a research university and how is it different from regular college.

Global Differences One of the most important distinctions between the word “college” and “research university” are the implications the words have abroad. In Europe, for example, what is normally called a “college” is really closer to a two-year learning experience. This is akin to a community college in the United States. Abroad, “university” is usually used across the board to describe a four-year institution of learning .

Size A small, yet important difference between a college and university in the U.S. is size. Colleges tend to be smaller, with restricted class sizes and larger ratio of student-to-faculty, while Universities tend to be larger. In addition, Universities can be made up of subsections and divisions of colleges that may be titled things such as “The University College of Engineering” or even an online engineering subsection. This means that this specific section is for students who are specializing in engineering and that for the most part, you will associate with just one part of the campus in your educational career.

Faculty At a research university, the faculty double as both teachers and researchers. This can have several different impacts on your education. Students are more likely to learn about the newest research in class, as that is what the researchers must be qualified to talk about. In addition, majors at universities are overall more specified. This means that Math majors, for example, are not required to take World History classes. This differs from the traditional U.S. College. At a college, faculty are usually exclusive teachers. While this allows them to dedicate more time to students, it also means that they will likely be less up to date on current research in the respective field. In addition, colleges tend to be more liberal in their curriculum, requiring a broader scope of learning than a research university.

Graduate Students Another significant different is the impact graduate students can have. At a research university, graduate students interact on many different levels with students. They can be TA’s, teachers, or partners. At colleges, however, graduate students are most likely not even present on campus.

As you decide which college you’d like to attend, keep these differences in mind. Choosing a research university can make for quite a different experience than you might expect at a traditional college.

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The role of research at universities: why it matters.

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Teaching and learning, research and discovery, synthesis and creativity, understanding and engagement, service and outreach. There are many “core elements” to the mission of a great university. Teaching would seem the most obvious, but for those outside of the university, “research” (taken to include scientific research, scholarship more broadly, as well as creative activity) may be the least well understood. This creates misunderstanding of how universities invest resources, especially those deriving from undergraduate tuition and state (or other public) support, and the misperception that those resources are being diverted away from what is believed should be the core (and sole) focus, teaching. This has led to a loss of trust, confidence, and willingness to continue to invest or otherwise support (especially our public) universities.

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research? Who pays? Who benefits? And why does it all matter? Good questions. Let’s get to some straightforward answers. Because the academic research enterprise really is not that difficult to explain, and its impacts are profound.

So let’s demystify university-based research. And in doing so, hopefully we can begin building both better understanding and a better relationship between the public and higher education, both of which are essential to the future of US higher education.   

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research?

Universities engage in research as part of their missions around learning and discovery. This, in turn, contributes directly and indirectly to their primary mission of teaching. Universities and many colleges (the exception being those dedicated exclusively to undergraduate teaching) have as part of their mission the pursuit of scholarship. This can come in the form of fundamental or applied research (both are most common in the STEM fields, broadly defined), research-based scholarship or what often is called “scholarly activity” (most common in the social sciences and humanities), or creative activity (most common in the arts). Increasingly, these simple categorizations are being blurred, for all good reasons and to the good of the discovery of new knowledge and greater understanding of complex (transdisciplinary) challenges and the creation of increasingly interrelated fields needed to address them.

It goes without saying that the advancement of knowledge (discovery, innovation, creation) is essential to any civilization. Our nation’s research universities represent some of the most concentrated communities of scholars, facilities, and collective expertise engaged in these activities. But more importantly, this is where higher education is delivered, where students develop breadth and depth of knowledge in foundational and advanced subjects, where the skills for knowledge acquisition and understanding (including contextualization, interpretation, and inference) are honed, and where students are educated, trained, and otherwise prepared for successful careers. Part of that training and preparation derives from exposure to faculty who are engaged at the leading-edge of their fields, through their research and scholarly work. The best faculty, the teacher-scholars, seamlessly weave their teaching and research efforts together, to their mutual benefit, and in a way that excites and engages their students. In this way, the next generation of scholars (academic or otherwise) is trained, research and discovery continue to advance inter-generationally, and the cycle is perpetuated.

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University research can be expensive, particularly in laboratory-intensive fields. But the responsibility for much (indeed most) of the cost of conducting research falls to the faculty member. Faculty who are engaged in research write grants for funding (e.g., from federal and state agencies, foundations, and private companies) to support their work and the work of their students and staff. In some cases, the universities do need to invest heavily in equipment, facilities, and personnel to support select research activities. But they do so judiciously, with an eye toward both their mission, their strategic priorities, and their available resources.

Medical research, and medical education more broadly, is expensive and often requires substantial institutional investment beyond what can be covered by clinical operations or externally funded research. But universities with medical schools/medical centers have determined that the value to their educational and training missions as well as to their communities justifies the investment. And most would agree that university-based medical centers are of significant value to their communities, often providing best-in-class treatment and care in midsize and smaller communities at a level more often seen in larger metropolitan areas.

Research in the STEM fields (broadly defined) can also be expensive. Scientific (including medical) and engineering research often involves specialized facilities or pieces of equipment, advanced computing capabilities, materials requiring controlled handling and storage, and so forth. But much of this work is funded, in large part, by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, and many others.

Research in the social sciences is often (not always) less expensive, requiring smaller amount of grant funding. As mentioned previously, however, it is now becoming common to have physical, natural, and social scientist teams pursuing large grant funding. This is an exciting and very promising trend for many reasons, not the least of which is the nature of the complex problems being studied.

Research in the arts and humanities typically requires the least amount of funding as it rarely requires the expensive items listed previously. Funding from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and private foundations may be able to support significant scholarship and creation of new knowledge or works through much more modest grants than would be required in the natural or physical sciences, for example.

Philanthropy may also be directed toward the support of research and scholarly activity at universities. Support from individual donors, family foundations, private or corporate foundations may be directed to support students, faculty, labs or other facilities, research programs, galleries, centers, and institutes.

Who benefits?

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, benefit from studying in an environment rich with research and discovery. Besides what the faculty can bring back to the classroom, there are opportunities to engage with faculty as part of their research teams and even conduct independent research under their supervision, often for credit. There are opportunities to learn about and learn on state-of-the-art equipment, in state-of-the-art laboratories, and from those working on the leading edge in a discipline. There are opportunities to co-author, present at conferences, make important connections, and explore post-graduate pathways.

The broader university benefits from active research programs. Research on timely and important topics attracts attention, which in turn leads to greater institutional visibility and reputation. As a university becomes known for its research in certain fields, they become magnets for students, faculty, grants, media coverage, and even philanthropy. Strength in research helps to define a university’s “brand” in the national and international marketplace, impacting everything from student recruitment, to faculty retention, to attracting new investments.

The community, region, and state benefits from the research activity of the university. This is especially true for public research universities. Research also contributes directly to economic development, clinical, commercial, and business opportunities. Resources brought into the university through grants and contracts support faculty, staff, and student salaries, often adding additional jobs, contributing directly to the tax base. Research universities, through their expertise, reputation, and facilities, can attract new businesses into their communities or states. They can also launch and incubate startup companies, or license and sell their technologies to other companies. Research universities often host meeting and conferences which creates revenue for local hotels, restaurants, event centers, and more. And as mentioned previously, university medical centers provide high-quality medical care, often in midsize communities that wouldn’t otherwise have such outstanding services and state-of-the-art facilities.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

And finally, why does this all matter?

Research is essential to advancing society, strengthening the economy, driving innovation, and addressing the vexing and challenging problems we face as a people, place, and planet. It’s through research, scholarship, and discovery that we learn about our history and ourselves, understand the present context in which we live, and plan for and secure our future.

Research universities are vibrant, exciting, and inspiring places to learn and to work. They offer opportunities for students that few other institutions can match – whether small liberal arts colleges, mid-size teaching universities, or community colleges – and while not right for every learner or every educator, they are right for many, if not most. The advantages simply cannot be ignored. Neither can the importance or the need for these institutions. They need not be for everyone, and everyone need not find their way to study or work at our research universities, and we stipulate that there are many outstanding options to meet and support different learning styles and provide different environments for teaching and learning. But it’s critically important that we continue to support, protect, and respect research universities for all they do for their students, their communities and states, our standing in the global scientific community, our economy, and our nation.

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Office of Undergraduate Research

Why undergraduate research.

Developing mentoring relationships

Mentors play a critically important role in students’ research and creative experiences, challenging students to try new things and offering a window onto the thinking of an experienced researcher or practitioner. A mentor who knows you well can advise you about your undergraduate career and your next steps after graduation; s/he will also be able to write a more detailed letter of recommendation than a professor who knows you only in a classroom context.

> What do students say?

Making a big campus feel smaller.

Participation in research, scholarship, or creative activity can help you find your niche on campus. The close relationships that are developed through sustained work together give a sense of community to research groups, labs, and teams.

Changing your perspective on ignorance and failure

Scholarly inquiry has a way of putting all that you do not know into stark relief, while rarely working quite as expected. As you learn to think like a researcher, you begin to see ignorance and failure not as personal shortcomings but as opportunities to ask questions, reframe problems, and try new approaches.

Cultivating an understanding of research design and methodology

Hands-on experience conducting original research supports students’ understanding of how to design investigations, how to make appropriate methodological choices, and how to implement different techniques and methods.

Developing a range of transferable skills

While some of your learning will be research-specific, undergraduate research also develops transferable skills with broad application, including critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and independence.

Exploring career and graduate education options

Undergraduate research and creative activity offer students opportunities to gain hands-on experience in fields of interest to them. This experience often prompts realizations about what kinds of work students enjoy most and what career paths they wish to pursue.

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• Getting started with research

What is Research?

Research is the pursuit of new knowledge through the process of discovery. Scientific research involves diligent inquiry and systematic observation of phenomena. Most scientific research projects involve experimentation, often requiring testing the effect of changing conditions on the results. The conditions under which specific observations are made must be carefully controlled, and records must be meticulously maintained. This ensures that observations and results can be are reproduced. Scientific research can be basic (fundamental) or applied. What is the difference? The National Science Foundation uses the following definitions in its resource surveys:

Basic research:

The objective of basic research is to gain more comprehensive knowledge or understanding of the subject under study, without specific applications in mind. In industry, basic research is defined as research that advances scientific knowledge but does not have specific immediate commercial objectives, although it may be in fields of present or potential commercial interest.

Applied research:

Applied research is aimed at gaining knowledge or understanding to determine the means by which a specific, recognized need may be met. In industry, applied research includes investigations oriented to discovering new scientific knowledge that has specific commercial objectives with respect to products, processes, or services.

What is research at the undergraduate level?

At the undergraduate level, research is self-directed work under the guidance and supervision of a mentor/advisor ― usually a university professor. A gradual transition towards independence is encouraged as a student gains confidence and is able to work with minor supervision. Students normally participate in an ongoing research project and investigate phenomena of interest to them and their advisor.

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Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

What is Research? Definition, Types, Methods, and Examples

Academic research is a methodical way of exploring new ideas or understanding things we already know. It involves gathering and studying information to answer questions or test ideas and requires careful thinking and persistence to reach meaningful conclusions. Let’s try to understand what research is.   

Table of Contents

Why is research important?    

Whether it’s doing experiments, analyzing data, or studying old documents, research helps us learn more about the world. Without it, we rely on guesswork and hearsay, often leading to mistakes and misconceptions. By using systematic methods, research helps us see things clearly, free from biases. (1)   

What is the purpose of research?  

In the real world, academic research is also a key driver of innovation. It brings many benefits, such as creating valuable opportunities and fostering partnerships between academia and industry. By turning research into products and services, science makes meaningful improvements to people’s lives and boosts the economy. (2)(3)  

What are the characteristics of research?    

The research process collects accurate information systematically. Logic is used to analyze the collected data and find insights. Checking the collected data thoroughly ensures accuracy. Research also leads to new questions using existing data.   

Accuracy is key in research, which requires precise data collection and analysis. In scientific research, laboratories ensure accuracy by carefully calibrating instruments and controlling experiments. Every step is checked to maintain integrity, from instruments to final results. Accuracy gives reliable insights, which in turn help advance knowledge.   

Types of research    

The different forms of research serve distinct purposes in expanding knowledge and understanding:    

• Exploratory research ventures into uncharted territories, exploring new questions or problem areas without aiming for conclusive answers. For instance, a study may delve into unexplored market segments to better understand consumer behaviour patterns.   
• Descriptive research delves into current issues by collecting and analyzing data to describe the behaviour of a sample population. For instance, a survey may investigate millennials’ spending habits to gain insights into their purchasing behaviours.   
• Explanatory research, also known as causal research, seeks to understand the impact of specific changes in existing procedures. An example might be a study examining how changes in drug dosage over some time improve patients’ health.   
• Correlational research examines connections between two sets of data to uncover meaningful relationships. For instance, a study may analyze the relationship between advertising spending and sales revenue.   
• Theoretical research deepens existing knowledge without attempting to solve specific problems. For example, a study may explore theoretical frameworks to understand the underlying principles of human behaviour.   
• Applied research focuses on real-world issues and aims to provide practical solutions. An example could be a study investigating the effectiveness of a new teaching method in improving student performance in schools.  (4)

Types of research methods

• Qualitative Method: Qualitative research gathers non-numerical data through interactions with participants. Methods include one-to-one interviews, focus groups, ethnographic studies, text analysis, and case studies. For example, a researcher interviews cancer patients to understand how different treatments impact their lives emotionally.    
• Quantitative Method: Quantitative methods deal with numbers and measurable data to understand relationships between variables. They use systematic methods to investigate events and aim to explain or predict outcomes. For example, Researchers study how exercise affects heart health by measuring variables like heart rate and blood pressure in a large group before and after an exercise program. (5)  

Basic steps involved in the research process    

Here are the basic steps to help you understand the research process:   

• Choose your topic: Decide the specific subject or area that you want to study and investigate. This decision is the foundation of your research journey.   
• Find information: Look for information related to your research topic. You can search in journals, books, online, or ask experts for help.   
• Assess your sources: Make sure the information you find is reliable and trustworthy. Check the author’s credentials and the publication date.   
• Take notes: Write down important information from your sources that you can use in your research.   
• Write your paper: Use your notes to write your research paper. Broadly, start with an introduction, then write the body of your paper, and finish with a conclusion.   
• Cite your sources: Give credit to the sources you used by including citations in your paper.   
• Proofread: Check your paper thoroughly for any errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation before you submit it. (6)

How to ensure research accuracy?  

Ensuring accuracy in research is a mix of several essential steps:    

• Clarify goals: Start by defining clear objectives for your research. Identify your research question, hypothesis, and variables of interest. This clarity will help guide your data collection and analysis methods, ensuring that your research stays focused and purposeful.   
• Use reliable data: Select trustworthy sources for your information, whether they are primary data collected by you or secondary data obtained from other sources. For example, if you’re studying climate change, use data from reputable scientific organizations with transparent methodologies.   
• Validate data: Validate your data to ensure it meets the standards of your research project. Check for errors, outliers, and inconsistencies at different stages, such as during data collection, entry, cleaning, or analysis.    
• Document processes: Documenting your data collection and analysis processes is essential for transparency and reproducibility. Record details such as data collection methods, cleaning procedures, and analysis techniques used. This documentation not only helps you keep track of your research but also enables others to understand and replicate your work.   
• Review results: Finally, review and verify your research findings to confirm their accuracy and reliability. Double-check your analyses, cross-reference your data, and seek feedback from peers or supervisors. (7) 

Research is crucial for better understanding our world and for social and economic growth. By following ethical guidelines and ensuring accuracy, researchers play a critical role in driving this progress, whether through exploring new topics or deepening existing knowledge.   

References:  

• Why is Research Important – Introductory Psychology – Washington State University  
• The Role Of Scientific Research In Driving Business Innovation – Forbes  
• Innovation – Royal Society  
• Types of Research – Definition & Methods – Bachelor Print  
• What Is Qualitative vs. Quantitative Study? – National University  
• Basic Steps in the Research Process – North Hennepin Community College  
• Best Practices for Ensuring Data Accuracy in Research – LinkedIn  

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What is Research?

Research is a process of systematic inquiry that entails collection of data; documentation of critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data/information, in accordance with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and academic disciplines.

Research is conducted to...

• Evaluate the validity of a hypothesis or an interpretive framework.
• To assemble a body of substantive knowledge and findings for sharing them in appropriate manners.
• To help generate questions for further inquiries.

If you would like further examples of specific ways different schools at Hampshire think about research, see: School Definitions of Research » What is "research" that needs to be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at Hampshire before proceeding?  Research should be reviewed by the IRB only when human subjects are involved, and the term research should be considered under a more narrow definition. Specifically, when the researcher is conducting research as outlined above AND has direct interaction with participants or data linked to personal identifiers , it should always fall under the purview of the IRB. Even if you have not directly collected the data yourself, as the researcher, your research may fall under the purview of the IRB. In reviewing such research, the IRB is concerned with the methodology of data collection in the "field" (e.g. collection, experimentation, interview, participant observation, etc.) and the use of the data.  The broader validity of the hypotheses or research questions, and the quality of inferences that may result (unless, of course, the research methodologies severely compromise the data collection and data usage directly), is not something they will be evaluating.

What if I am using information that is already available?

If you are doing research that is limited to secondary analysis of data, records, or specimens that are either publicly available, de-identified, or otherwise impossible to be linked to personal identities, you may still need IRB approval to do your project. Sometimes a data use agreement between the researcher and the data custodian may still be required to verify that the researcher will not have access to identifying codes.  This "de-linking" of data from personal identifiers  allows the IRB to make this determination. Regardless, you should submit an IRB proposal so the IRB can determine whether your project needs IRB review, and if so, the type of review required. For specifics of what research should be reviewed by the IRB and the category of review required, see the flow chart and examples provided .

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What is exactly meant by "research experience" in grad application?

I'm confused by what the term "research experience" actually means in a PhD application. The following examples come into my mind:

• working as research assistant with university professor
• publishing research papers in conferences
• work in R&D division of company (industry research)

Do all examples of the list above count as research experience? Or which ones do? If so, what are they?

Which ones are more important and provide competitive advantage for getting accepted to good university?

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• 3 I can confirm that RA experience and published work counted as research experience when I applied to my PhD. –  user7112 Commented Jan 11, 2014 at 11:28

3 Answers 3

I would say all of those count as "research experience". Which ones will be most valued depends on the nature of the program you're applying to, and the exact nature of the work you did. In general, though, the more independent your work was, the better, and the more generic it was, the worse. So if you were a research assistant but all you did was photocopy documents, that will not earn you many points. If you were a research assistant who, e.g., conducted experiments, did fieldwork, participated in lab meetings, whatever, those will be worth more. If you actually contributed to the writing of papers or presentation at conferences, even better.

As a rule of thumb, the more that what you did was something other people could not have done (i.e., it required your special expertise, not just "more hands'), the "better" it is.

Most of the applicants for PhD positions (after bachelor, different for master) don't have much research experience or have even written a paper as first author, more common would be poster at a conference. So if you have to show something here over average, list it in your application.

As professors get sometimes over 100 applications for PhD positions, more importantly list in bullet points what you experience handling distinct scientific methods is (technical terminus and usage time, e.g. electron microscopy on biological objects for one year or matlab scripting on neural networks for 6 months) . As soon as you have worked for several weeks with a distinct technique, list it as research experience (name - object - duration)

This profile of your expertise is in the end to my experience more important to a professor/distinct position than a higher number of posters/papers of a distinct candidate, because it depends more on your team/advisor/co-workers if you publish before PhD a lot

It means during your undergraduate or after your undergraduate or in masters (if you are going for a PhD program), what did you do that counts as research.

In PhD application, the committee is looking for whether you already have warmed up for research or not because PhD is about taking a problem and doing research which only you could have done.

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Student Voice Survey: The Academic Experience   

Students rate their educational quality highly while signaling ways to improve their academic experience in newly released data and analysis from our annual survey of college undergraduates.

By  Colleen Flaherty

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New Student Voice findings and analysis shed light on 5,025 two- and four-year students’ academic experiences, including what they say would boost their academic success. Encouraging faculty members to limit high-stakes exams, or those counting for 40 percent or more of a course grade, is a top response.

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Mohamed Diallo, a rising junior at Yale University, is pursuing a double major in global affairs and history as well as a certificate—something like a minor—in computer science. How does he rate the quality of his education so far? A solid four on a scale of one to five, or “really good.”

The pros: Diallo, a first-generation student who’s not yet set on a specific career path, says his education so far has made him more “intellectually curious” and has “laid a really good foundation for me to succeed.”

“It’s the liberal arts education that I can really learn to appreciate,” he adds. “For the past few semesters, I was able to take a wide range of classes. And that’s valuable to me in the long run.”

As for cons, Diallo touches on them in the second half of that last sentence: “… even though a lot of these classes are not things that are anything applying towards my career right now.” Translation: He’d appreciate more of an emphasis across disciplines and instructors on connecting course content to real-world issues and applications.

“That’s something that I highly value when looking for my courses,” Diallo explains, endorsing a global development course in which he learned not only econometrics but the practical skill of writing policy reports, for example.

Diallo is just one of the 5,025 two- and four-year students who completed Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab’s annual Student Voice survey. Some of his thoughts, which he shared in a recent interview, align with his peers’ responses to parallel survey questions; others diverge from popular responses. Read on for additional findings from and analysis of the survey’s academic life portion.

Methodology

Nearly three in 10 respondents (28 percent) to Inside Higher Ed ’s new annual Student Voice survey, fielded in May in partnership with Generation Lab, attend two-year institutions, and closer to four in 10 (37 percent) are post-traditional students, meaning they attend two-year institutions and/or are 25 or older. The 5,025-student sample is nationally representative. The survey’s margin of error is 1.4 percent.

Initial highlights from the full survey are here , and the full data set, with interactive visualizations, is available here . In addition to questions about academic life, the main annual survey asked questions on health and wellness, the college experience, and preparation for life after college. Look for additional findings and analysis in the coming weeks and months.

More on Education Quality

About three in four Student Voice respondents rate the quality of education they’re receiving in college as good (46 percent) or excellent (27 percent), with only 2 percent rating it as poor. Students at private nonprofit institutions are especially likely to say that their education quality is excellent, compared to those at publics. This difference can’t be attributed to institution size or even two-year or four-year classification, as community college students are somewhat more likely than four-year students over all to rate their education quality as excellent (30 percent versus 25 percent, respectively).

By region, students in New England are most likely to rate their education quality as excellent (43 percent) and students in the far West are least likely (15 percent).

Looking at student characteristics, family income appears to factor in here, with the wealthiest students in the survey (a family income exceeding $200,000) most likely to rate their education quality as excellent (37 percent). Gender, race and political orientation don’t appear to drive perceptions of educational quality, though students 25 and older are more likely than their younger counterparts to rate their educational quality as excellent (32 percent versus 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds).

Continuing-generation students are slightly more likely (75 percent) to rate their educational quality as good or excellent than are first-generation students (70 percent). Same for students taking a typical course load (75 percent rate their educational quality as good or excellent) relative to those taking more or less than the typical load for their institution (69 percent in each case).

Bigger gaps emerge when looking at course modality: Three in four (76 percent) students taking all their classes in person say their educational quality is good or excellent, compared to two in three (67 percent) students taking all their classes online. Students taking a mix of both in-person and online classes split that difference (72 percent).

That students at private nonprofit institutions are so likely to say their educational quality is excellent surprises Flower Darby, for whom educational quality boils down to instructional effectiveness. Darby, associate director of the Teaching for Learning Center at the University of Missouri at Columbia, has nothing against private nonprofit institutions, in particular, but she explains that higher education historically underemphasizes the practice of teaching—four-year institutions (public or private) most of all.

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“I understand the value of research and scholarship, and I know that it can enhance and feed into better teaching,” she says of faculty duties beyond teaching at four-year colleges and universities (versus community colleges, where teaching is a primary focus). “But what the students are experiencing on a day-to-day basis, whether they’re in person or online, is the teaching.”

Darby explains that students’ residential experiences, where applicable, and other supports and services matter—just not as much as instructional effectiveness. Not all her peers across higher ed may think of educational quality in this way, she says, but there is a growing emphasis on how instructors impact the student experience of quality. In any case, she notes, “Students are definitely thinking about quality in this way.”

Jonathan GS Koppell, president of Montclair State University, says that in addition to seeing quality through the lens of instructional effectiveness, survey respondents’ overall high marks on educational quality—public or private, two-year or four-year institution—have implications for the tenor of current national conversations about college value. A related recent flash survey from Student Voice detailed current students’ thoughts on college value, affordability and the botched rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The vast majority of students feel they are benefiting from the skills and knowledge they are acquiring, and that is before you factor in the clear return on investment a degree provides in one’s personal and professional life after college. Instead of allowing those on the outside to devalue what higher education provides based on their own assumptions about what students want and what they are getting, we should listen to students.” —Jonathan GS Koppell, Montclair State University

Boosting Academic Success From Within the Classroom

As for what institutional academic-focused actions would most boost their academic success, students’ No. 1 choice from a long list of options is encouraging faculty members to limit high-stakes exams, or those counting for 40 percent or more of a course grade. By institution type, this appears to be more of a priority for students at large institutions (48 percent of that subgroup) than small institutions (39 percent), and for four-year students (49 percent) relative to two-year students (37 percent).

Limiting high-stakes exams also seems to be more popular among Democrats (49 percent) than among Republicans (39 percent), by student political leaning. By major racial group, white (48 percent), Asian American and Pacific Islander (47 percent), and Hispanic (44 percent) students are more likely to choose this than Black students (39 percent). Students 25 and older are less likely than their younger peers to want this, meanwhile, by age (36 percent versus 48 percent, respectively).

Beyond limiting high-stakes exams, many students—like Diallo—say they think it would make an academic impact if professors could help them better connect what they’re learning in class to issues outside the classroom and/or to their career plans (40 percent of the sample over all). This, too, is more of an apparent priority for students at large institutions (42 percent) than small ones (32 percent), students at four-year institutions (43 percent) relative to those at two-year institutions (33 percent), and students 18 to 24 (42 percent) relative to those 25 or older (31 percent).

Another popular choice: encouraging professors to get to know students better . About a third of the sample over all (35 percent) believes this would help their success, but closer to half of students at private nonprofits do (45 percent). Relatively more four-year students (38 percent) than two-year students (28 percent) choose this, as well.

By individual student characteristics, AAPI students are especially likely (40 percent) to say they want professors to get to know students better, as are younger students relative to older students (38 percent versus 24 percent, respectively).

Other wants include deadline flexibility, changes to exam schedules and encouragement of study groups.

Despite its relative popularity among his fellow survey respondents, Diallo says he’s not keen on limiting high-stakes exams, as he prefers to confine exam stress to the end of a term, when there’s time built into the academic calendar to study. He does support the promotion of study groups and recalls how much he appreciated when an economics professor helped students form study groups in a class in which he knew few others.

Diallo also likes the idea of encouraging professors to get to know their students better, beyond office hours and in ways that could help students build their networks within a given field. Students might even help professors better understand what they’re interested in learning, and why: “We could provide a lot of support to them as well.”

Karen Cangialosi, director of the Every Learner Everywhere Network, part of the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education’s (WICHE) Cooperative for Educational Technologies, says the results are unsurprising in that “high-stakes exams and testing work counter to the project of learning, as many have been writing about for years”—Diallo’s comments notwithstanding.

Additionally, Cangialosi says, “students want to see more relevance in what they are studying. They want to change the world. My students used to tell me that in almost every class.”

Darby’s of the same mind. Half of students asking for fewer high-stakes exams is compelling evidence against their widespread use in assessing student learning, she says. And jumping ahead to the survey’s findings on health and wellness (the topic of future Student Voice reporting), many students link high-stakes exams to mental health concerns, she notes. Replacing exams with more unit tests does not sacrifice rigor but can reduce student anxiety (although high-pressure exam experiences could benefit students preparing for consequential certificate or entrance exams in their fields).

That’s a teaching issue. There is no reason to continue with high-stakes exams in most classes. Now there’s eight or 12 [assessments] instead of two or three that are make-or-break.” —Flower Darby, University of Missouri at Columbia

Ultimately, Darby says, curbing high-stakes exams is a “very low-hanging fruit” when it comes to student success, in that it’s not complex or costly to implement. “I don’t want to assume that every faculty [member] can devote tons of time into improving their teaching or making changes in their classes. But this one is doable and would have a significant impact on student well-being.”

Darby adds that pedagogical research supports much of the other student wants, as applicability or relevance of course content boosts intrinsic motivation to learn, structure coupled with some flexibility around deadlines helps students feel supported and empathized with, fostering a sense of belonging among students via study groups promotes student success , and so on.

On study groups, for instance, Darby says, “The fact that students are asking for that is, again, to me, a relatively low-hanging fruit. Even learning management systems like Canvas can literally create groups with the click of a button. And what it does is enhance community among students, which is critically important to their learning and success.”

Additional Ways to Boost Student Success

Asked which additional student experience–focused institutional actions would best help promote their academic success, more than half of students (55 percent) say making tuition more affordable so they can better balance academics, finances and work. This is relatively consistent across family income levels, suggesting that students from a range of backgrounds may struggle to afford college in ways that impact their academics. Students at public and private nonprofit institutions are about as likely to say this, but relatively more four-year (59 percent) than two-year (44 percent) students do. By region, students in the far West (65 percent) and Rocky Mountains (71 percent) are most likely want to make tuition more affordable in the interest of their academic success.

Another popular option, also with financial implications, is creating more opportunities for paid on-campus work , including internships or leadership opportunities in the student’s field of interest (49 percent). Fewer students 25 and older (35 percent) want this than do those 18 to 24 (52 percent), however. But by institution type, boosting opportunities for paid campus is work is more popular among students at four-year institutions than among students at two-year institutions (52 percent versus 41 percent, respectively).

Other popular options for college experiences that students say could impact academic success are promoting opportunities for social connection and building a sense of belonging (32 percent) and introducing more mental health initiatives (30 percent). Rates for both are relatively consistent across institution types and student demographics, but boosting mental health offerings is especially popular among nonbinary students in the survey (53 percent).

Creating more research opportunities for undergraduates is more popular among students at private nonprofits (42 percent) than publics (29 percent) and four-year students (34 percent) than two-year students (22 percent).

Doing more to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and making the campus more welcoming for all was selected by about two in 10 (21 percent) students over all but 50 percent of nonbinary students, 32 percent of Black students and 29 percent of AAPI students, in particular, meaning that students’ experiences with campus climate and that climate’s bearing on their academic success vary by background. By political leaning, 30 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of Republicans say more DEI efforts would promote their academic success.

Lastly, despite chat bots being a main use of AI on many campuses, according to Inside Higher Ed /Hanover Research’s 2024 surveys of presidents and provosts , few students prioritize their expansion as a way to boost academic success, with just about one in 10 (12 percent) of students choosing this.

Diallo, at Yale, puts a high value on inviting more guest speakers and lecturers and on expanding mental health initiatives, with the former linking back to his preference for real-world applications of what he’s learning: “You’re learning about potential career opportunities or new insights that they might have that the professor might not.” On mental health initiatives, Diallo says he’s not fully aware of the mental health initiatives that currently exist on campus and he’s interested in hearing more about how things like stress reduction could promote his academic success and overall growth.

“The past two semesters have been really stressful for me since I’m pursuing a double major,” he adds.

Darby, meanwhile, tends to get “super philosophical” regarding students’ affordability concerns, which speaks to “the defunding of education at the state level. And that goes directly against the vision for this democracy laid out by the founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson is credited with saying that a functioning democracy requires an educated citizenry and free access to education was a foundational pillar of this country. So when I look at what’s happening with our political situation, and I think about the expense of higher education because of defunding, I see some connections there.”

The high cost of education is such a huge barrier to so many students and would-be students. It gets worse all of the time. Our continual defunding of public education has exacted huge costs on our students and on our society as a whole.” —Karen Cangialosi, Every Learner Everywhere

Like Darby, Cangialosi links the student mental health crisis to stress associated with grades—as well as high costs associated with tuition and fees. And so, like Koppell, the Montclair State president, she says these findings have implications for national conversations about college value, namely that “we need to continue to communicate the public value of education over just viewing it as personal gain for students.”

Students on Teaching Formats and Practices

As for which class formats and teaching practices students say most help them learn and retain information (they could pick two), the top choices are interactive lecture, meaning a class that’s still professor-led but punctuated with active learning strategies (44 percent). That’s above both traditional, sage-on-the-stage–type lectures (25 percent) and active learning–intensive courses in which the professor is mostly a facilitator to learning instead of a lecturer (20 percent). This corresponds with previous Student Voice survey findings from Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse on this topic, which indicated that students preferred interactive lectures over other options.

In the new survey, relatively more men (29 percent) express a preference for traditional lecture than women (22 percent) or nonbinary students (24 percent).

About a quarter of students each also prioritize case studies that connect course concepts to real-world problems (23 percent). Students are less enthusiastic about other active-learning strategies, like minute papers or exit tickets and quick polls and surveys (8 percent each), so they may be somewhat agnostic about specific interactive strategies or looking for more innovative strategies than these commonly used ones.

All these results are relatively consistent across institution types and student demographics in terms of what students prioritize. However, students taking all their classes online are less likely than the sample over all to select interactive lectures (35 percent), as are students with a learning disability (33 percent) and those with a physical disability (27 percent).

The findings make sense to Diallo, who enjoys case studies because they help make course content relevant; as one example, he says he and peers in a global development course retraced the steps of researchers who completed a global development study. As for class format, he recalls a popular education studies professor who caught him off guard and eventually won him over with “innovative” practices that kept students engaged, like asking them to knit in the middle of one meeting (yes, knit , with yarn, etc.).

Even though [the] lectures were recorded and not mandatory, a lot of us still attended due to the interactive nature of [the class] and really loved what [the professor] was doing. She also encouraged us to write and share, amongst the 100-person lecture room, our experiences with education. I found the interactive nature of it to be really helpful … It really helps to have little five- to ten-minute breaks in the lecture.” —Mohamed Diallo, Yale University

Darby finds the plurality’s preference for interactive lectures “really encouraging,” in that it signals students (like educational researchers) understand that active learning boosts their engagement and performance. Plus, she says, from a faculty standpoint, “classes that are entirely active learning can also be very, very effective but are a huge lift.” Translation: interactive lecture is another “very low-hanging fruit.”

One note: “If it’s an in-person class, you do have to cut a little bit of content, reduce slides,” she says. “But there is abundant evidence to show that that helps students learn more effectively … A little goes a long way.”

Students on Course Modality

The majority (58 percent) of student respondents say in-person/face-to-face is preferred, with relatively more four-year (62 percent) than two-year (49 percent) students saying so. By institution type, nearly eight in 10 (79 percent) of students at private nonprofits say they prefer face-to-face, compared to closer to five in 10 (54 percent) at public nonprofits. By region, students in New England (70 percent) are especially likely to prefer face-to-face and students in the Southwest (46 percent) are least likely.

How does this compare to administrators’ views of what students want? In Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research’s survey of provosts this year, nearly six in 10 (56 percent) provosts said that based on enrollment data, students tend to prefer in-person courses over online or hybrid courses when both are offered, with chief academic officers at private institutions being especially likely to say this. The strong preference for face-to-face conflicts with some other data, however, including a recent report by Tyton Partners finding that just 29 percent of students prefer face-to-face instruction. (Student Voice survey respondents were able to pick up to two choices.)

By course format, nearly three in four Student Voice respondents (74 percent) taking all their courses in person prefer face-to-face instruction, followed by blended courses (23 percent). Among students taking all their courses online, more than half (54 percent) prefer online, asynchronous instruction, followed by in-person (23 percent). Among respondents taking a mix of online and in-person courses, just over half (52 percent) prefer in-person, followed by hybrid (29 percent).

Older students express much less of a preference for face-to-face instruction than do those age 24 or younger, with a plurality of older students preferring online, asynchronous classes.

Diallo says he mostly prefers in-person courses, as he believes he learns best this way. He’s also interested in HyFlex, though, so that he has options as to how to participate when and if other obligations arise.

Darby, meanwhile, says she didn’t anticipate just how many students would prefer in-person instruction and finds it somewhat “affirming” that traditional-age students are particularly interested. She wonders whether that’s “influenced or reinforced by their pandemic education experience. Maybe some realized that ‘in-person is good and might support me better.’”

As for asynchronous, online courses being the second-most-preferred format over all, Darby says many institutions are expanding these course offerings, “and I would argue that it increases access and is a more equity-focused approach, because it does make it possible for students who would not otherwise be able to earn that degree due to other obligations to earn that credential.” Still, Darby emphasizes quality—including instructional effectiveness—as these courses proliferate. This also points back to the findings on educational quality by course modality, in which students taking all their courses in person are significantly more likely than those taking all their courses online to rate their educational quality as good or excellent.

“Increasing access to college is one thing, but we need to be doing whatever we can to increase completion of online classes. And again, for me, that’s a teaching and learning challenge that we can address. We know what works.”

Cangialosi says the response pattern “screams out about how much students want direct engagement with faculty and peers. People learn in social environments. Students, like other people, crave social connections in real life, and learning is enhanced just by the presence of others learning with you.”

Interaction can be online in synchronous formats when face-to-face isn’t possible or when it’s too expensive, she adds, “but it isn’t usually preferable. The biggest benefits of online education are access, affordability for some programs, and flexibility, which students need.”

Navigating AI

As for whether students have a clear sense of when, how and whether to use generative artificial intelligence to help with their coursework, relatively few students (19 percent) say no. The largest shares of students attribute their savvy to individual faculty members, with about a third each saying some or all of their professors had addressed the issue in class (31 percent) and some or all of their professors had included a policy on this in their syllabi (29 percent). About a quarter of students say they’ve researched the issue themselves. They are less likely (16 percent) to attribute their knowledge to their institution publishing a policy—a finding that’s consistent with Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research’s annual surveys of presidents and provosts , in which about the same share of each group said their institutions had published an AI policy involving teaching and research.

Less than one in 10 students in this Student Voice survey say their institution offered information sessions or related trainings on this. That’s even as prior Student Voice survey data suggest students are eager for AI training, particularly as it relates to their future careers.

By age, in this most recent survey, students over 25 are less likely than younger peers to attribute their knowledge on using generative AI for academic work to professors and more likely to say that they researched it themselves. Students at public institutions are also more likely than those at private nonprofits to say they don’t know how, when or whether to use generative AI for coursework (21 percent versus 11 percent, respectively, a significant gap). Community college students are also more likely to say they lack this knowledge than four-year students (24 percent versus 17 percent, respectively).

Diallo says he does have a “good grasp” of when, how or whether to use generative AI for academic work, much of it intuitive, he says, comparing writing a paper with generative AI to any other kind of plagiarism. Beyond this, he says Yale has posted guidelines for this around campus and individual professors have addressed it in their course syllabi. Still, Diallo says, he’s aware how important prompt engineering is in using generative AI effectively and he’s never explicitly been taught best practices to that end.

Darby’s not surprised by how many students say they’re not getting key guidance on generative AI at the institutional level, but she ventures that many colleges and universities are working on this issue this summer, to provide students more clarity come fall. More encouraging, however, is the share of students who say their professors are effectively addressing this issue, through syllabi or direct instruction: “That’s different than what I would have predicted, quite frankly, and I think that’s different than it would have been a year ago. So that’s great.”

She adds that there’s a delicate balance to be struck between institutional stances on one hand and pedagogy and academic freedom on the other, even as many “professors are looking for more of that institutional guidance.”

Final Thoughts

Looking at the data as whole, Cangialosi says, “I firmly believe that the burden is on those of us claiming to want reform in higher education to find ways to, No. 1, substantially lower the cost of education; No. 2, dramatically transform or get rid of grading as it is normally done; and No. 3, help guide students to direct their own path of learning towards issues that are relevant to them and their local, regional and global communities.”

Koppell adds, “The results show that high-quality academic experiences on campuses around the country are appreciated and, furthermore, that students have ideas about how we can further improve. We should pay attention to it all.”

Tell us about how a student experience–related effort at your institution has impacted students’ academic success.

Elevating Staff Voices in Higher Education

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• MyU : For Students, Faculty, and Staff

hUMNs of Chemistry #17

They/them Professor

Tell us about your journey to the University of Minnesota.

My first visit to the University of Minnesota was during my graduate school years at UW-Madison.  I came to make measurements at the Institute for Rock Magnetism and also ended up meeting the love of my life during that visit.  Fast forward, the love of my life and I live right here in Minneapolis.  

We would love to hear more about your research! What do you hope to accomplish with this work? What is the real-world impact for the average person?

I'm very excited to work on projects related to the environment, green chemistry, and sustainability. We have projects focused on the behavior of iron-bearing minerals in environmental systems, microplastics, biochar, materials for sustainable energy applications, and a brand new project with the Boiteau group focusing on the ocean!  

What courses do you teach? What can students expect to get out of your course?

I have had the great fortune of teaching general chemistry courses, which is great fun (most of the time).  General chemistry is a tough class, and I strive to make the classroom a supportive and welcoming one.  I also take every opportunity to include demonstrations during lecture, including popular Energy and U demonstrations like the screaming gummy bear, methane mamba, and the flaming tube of death.

What do you hope to contribute to the chemistry community at the University?

I hope to do innovative research in the areas of environmental chemistry and sustainability; continue and foster interdisciplinary collaborations; serve as an effective mentor and educator; engage with the broader community through research, outreach, and other activities; and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at the U of MN and beyond.

When you visit other universities, what do you love to share about our UMN community?

Ongoing commitments to collaborative and interdisciplinary research and to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

What do you do outside of the classroom/lab/office for fun?

I'm sure that most folks know I ride bikes -- a lot. I do some other things, honestly, I do...  I mean, sometimes.

What’s your favorite piece of chemistry/science pop culture media? Why do you love it?

I'm about to teach Chem 1015 (Introductory Chemistry) for the first time, and I think I might have to play this.

What was your very first job?

Mowing lawns

Tell us about who makes up your household (including pets).

Cheryl (human), Dandelion (dog), Bella (cat), and Dubby (cat).

Eric Schulz

Information Technology Professional

Please give a brief description of your role within the UMN Chemistry department.

If it plugs into a wall outlet or sits next to a computer or runs on a laptop and it "used to work before," I'll be asked to have a look at fixing it.

I grew up in Wisconsin and came to the U of MN for a degree in engineering.  As it turns out, I wasn't a very good engineer, but I was able to pick up a number of burgeoning computer skills.  I've got my start in DOS, Novell Netware, hand typing HTML and fixing Apple II's; while steadily learning the workings of past computers to today's iPads, laptops, computers and operating systems. The E-Shop's previous employees have passed on a few skills to me on instrument repair, but I wished I'd paid better attention while they were here!

Do you have a background in or like chemistry? Tell us about it!

I don't have anything other then a year of college Chemistry under my belt.

What professional successes are most important to you?

I was very proud of the web server and services that I ran for a number of years.  I have always felt that supporting the Department of Chemistry and its people with the best of my abilities is a very important part of who I am.

I've a few years left, and I hope to continue to learn about new technological advances.

Burger King cashier!

My family bought our first house a few years ago and I do enjoy fixing it up, both inside and outside.  I enjoy swimming, camping with the Boy Scouts and playing cards with friends.

What non-chemistry interest or activity of yours might surprise department members?

I recently got my certification in scuba diving and went on a diving trip to Florida.  Its probably not too surprising, but I like to learn how to repair cars and appliances.  

My wife, my daughter, my son, my father in-law and three cats!

Casey Wouters

She/her Graduate student

I grew up in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas and pursued my undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. In college, I studied chemistry and worked as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Charles Rice's lab at OU. I came to UMN directly after finishing my BS in chemistry, with my first time visiting the Twin Cities being the day I arrived with all my stuff to move here (thanks, COVID). 

Are you involved in any student groups? What inspired you to get involved?

I'm currently serving as secretary of Queer Science, a group which does outreach to queer high schoolers in the Twin Cities metro. I love working with this group and think it's so important for young people to be able to see themselves represented in STEM. Additionally, I spend a lot of time working on the Graduate Labor Union and it's related causes. I am on the bargaining committee working with the university on writing our first contract! I became an organizer because I believe in the value of our work as grad students and have found my work with GLU to be incredibly fulfilling. 

Tell us about an important mentor in your academic life?

My undergraduate research adviser Dr. Charles Rice served a pivotal role in my experience at OU and in my grad school application and decision process. Working in his lab gave me amazing hands-on experience and confidence in my research abilities. I even got to conduct my own project for my honors thesis, which was published last year. Having a supportive PI and a lab group that formed its own little family was so important to my time at OU. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After graduation, I hope to stay in the Twin Cities and get a job in the local science industry. I also have a keen interest in science policy and hope to incorporate some element of this into my future career as well. 

I love to craft and read! Name a craft and I have probably tried it, but my favorite is knitting. I like to constantly have a bunch of works in progress at the same time and to also have a book to suit every mood.   

Related news releases

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• hUMNs of Chemistry #15
• Hannah Kenagy and Melissa Ramirez join Department of Chemistry
• hUMNs of Chemistry #14
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