Student: Spotlight



Douglas Mata
Biochemistry and Cell Biology

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Undergraduate Research and

Summer Opportunities Programs

Welcome to the Undergraduate Research Opportunities website.

Participation in research is a fundamental part of the undergraduate experience at Rice, fulfilling a vital component of our mission of preparing students to make a distinctive impact in the world.

Research in this context is understood very broadly as any opportunity to approach a problem in a critical and open-ended way, ranging from the experiments in our science and engineering laboratories, to the design projects in our engineering classes and architecture studios, to the fieldwork and original analyses of our social scientists and humanists.  Undergraduate students who want to participate in research have a number of options:

• Research assistants:   Research assistants work on faculty members’ research projects.  These positions may be for pay, course credit, or voluntary.  Students interested in these positions should use the search for opportunities link on the left side of this page. 
• Course-based research:    Many of the upper-level courses in all major fields of study include some form of research assignment.  For more information, please see the course descriptions in the General Announcements and/or refer to department webpages via the links to the Academic Schools on the right side menu.
• Community-based research:   Community-based research (CBR) opportunities are those in which students conduct research in association with a community partner, such as a governmental or non-profit organization.  For more information on CBR opportunities, please use the Center for Civic Engagement link on the left hand menu.
• Independent study:    Students who wish to conduct research on a focused topic of their own often do so by enrolling in an Independent Study or Independent Research course.  Independent Study and Independent Research courses require the approval of a supervising faculty member.  Students interested in such courses are encouraged to talk with their academic advisor and/or contact the Center for Civic Engagement.    

Keep in mind that most of these opportunities—namely, assistantships, research courses,  and CBR projects—do not require that your major be in a particular field.

This essential piece of undergraduate education is supported by faculty members who work one-on-one with students, as well as by a number of well-established research programs.  Prominent among these are the Rice Undergraduate Scholars Program, Century Scholars Program, Rice Building Workshop, the School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) and the Consortium in Conservation Biology Zoo Project, along with a number of opportunities through the Center for Civic Engagement. 

Students interested in participating in research are encouraged to make use of the information posted on this site, as well as the "Search for Opportunities" feature on the left hand menu. Search results will include details about available opportunities, as well as the preferred contact method for sponsoring faculty or departments.

The range of complex challenges facing our world will be solved by students who are educated to understand the limits of the knowledge they are given in the classroom, who are capable of applying bodies of knowledge to new areas in search of creative solutions, and who can tackle open-ended and ambiguous problems that require original thought and analysis. These are the precise skills that undergraduates can acquire through research experiences, and our goal is to provide access to such opportunities for all of our students.

Allow yourself to explore and find something that interests you.  Your work could help change the world.