Geneticist Linda Brzustowicz gets undergraduates involved in her research into schizophrenia and autism. Learn more.
Undergraduate Opportunities
Researcher—and Mentor
The Value of Research
As seen in the "Research" television spot, innovations and discoveries by Rutgers researchers are improving the lives of people around the globe. Learn more.
Rutgers Libraries: The Place to Go When You Need to Know
Delving into research at Rutgers starts by teaming up with the right faculty member. But once you and your mentor have outlined your inquiry, today’s digital-age library can be the best place to begin your research project in earnest. Learn more.
Combating Asthma
Student Katie Morey transformed environmental health research into learning tools for urban faith communities. Learn more.
At a research university, you learn from great professors who are pushing and prodding the boundaries of human knowledge every day. And if you are determined and inquisitive, they will take you along on their journeys—and encourage you to begin your own.
Research requires discipline, organization, critical thinking, and writing skills; and it teaches patience and tenacity. And often it’s pure joy for the researcher. It can be a stepping-stone to graduate school or to that first job after graduation.
Rutgers undergraduates are found conducting research in the university’s outstanding laboratories, field stations, archives, libraries, museums, and fine and performing arts studios. If you want to be an undergraduate researcher at Rutgers, you will be.
Where to Start
Research opportunities within individual majors are extensive, with most schools, colleges, and departments offering honors, special problems, and independent study research courses. Requirements depend on individual school, departmental, faculty, and program procedures, so ask your adviser or professor, or check the unit website for more information.
These central resources are a good place to start.
- Rutgers–New Brunswick: Aresty Research Center for Undergraduates
- Rutgers–Newark: Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Rutgers–Camden: Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity in Arts and Sciences
I have read a lot of research papers, and it’s exciting to be on the other side, to be the one writing those papers and making the discoveries.
Matthew Inverso, psychology major
Out in the World
In New Jersey and across the globe, Rutgers undergraduate researchers get out there and do important work.
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Rutgers–Newark undergraduate and graduate students in ecologist Claus Holzapfel’s Fusion Ecology Lab study communities of plant and animal species that do not occur together naturally and are created through human impact. |
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Rutgers undergraduates team with faculty mentors to research a wide range of topics, including several with direct impact on New Jersey communities, such as controversial local policies affecting immigrants. |
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Approximately 100 undergraduate researchers showcased their research during the annual Rutgers–Camden Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. |
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Students in the Rutgers Chapter of Engineers Without Borders do applied research to improve water resources in Thailand, Guatemala, and Kenya. |
Why Undergraduates Should Do Research
The Aresty Research Center for Undergraduates weighs in on the benefits of undergraduate research.
- Gain an understanding of the practical applications of knowledge.
- Learn to formulate questions, design plans to find answers, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions from that data, and share your findings.
- Connect with great Rutgers faculty.
- Step up your preparation for graduate school and the workplace where they are looking for outstanding students who can identify and solve problems in teams.
- Get ready for the world beyond Rutgers and gain confidence as you hone your independent thinking, creativity, time management, and budget skills.
- Learn about the theories, tools, resources, and ethical issues that scholars and professionals encounter daily.
- Become an informed consumer of research and make informed decisions about policy issues that affect your everyday life.
