What We Do
Our staff serves as an information and support hub to encourage students and faculty across campus to get involved in--and get the most out of--the UIC Undergraduate Research Experience. We aim to increase and diversify participation in research, scholarship, and creative endeavors by forging partnerships on and off campus and leading initiatives such as those listed below.
Make a connection: Heading link
The Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) is a university-wide initiative dedicated to fostering scholarly engagement and intellectual growth. Its mission is to make research an integral part of the undergraduate academic experience at UIC by creating mutually beneficial research relationships between students and faculty researchers. Its backbone is an interactive database that students can use to search for faculty with undergraduate research positions and where faculty and other campus researchers can list opportunities and identify themselves as committed to supervising and mentoring undergraduate researchers.
Summer College Event: MAKING THE CONNECTION: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Inquiry at UIC
We offer a one-day seminar in July to help incoming first-year students and transfers “make the connection” at UIC. The program includes faculty guest speakers, a research site visit, resource tutorials, and network-building experiences that activate students’ creative and academic curiosity and connect them earlier and in stronger ways to UIC as a community of learning and discovery.
Fund their work: Heading link
The Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Award allows students who have demonstrated financial need to work as research assistants for hourly pay–at no cost to faculty or departments. Faculty apply online on behalf of the student(s) they have recruited. Students are hired by the faculty member’s department just as any other student employee would be, and then reimbursed through the Office of Student Success and Belonging at the end of the semester. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until yearly funding has been exhausted.
We also provide information about numerous funded research opportunities run out of individual UIC labs and research groups, departments, and colleges as well as sources of support for students conducting, presenting, and publishing research while studying abroad, during the summer, and between undergraduate and graduate or professional school. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for upcoming deadlines.
Share their results: Heading link
Undergraduate Research Forum, organized by the Office of Undergraduate Research and External Fellowships and the Office of Student Success and Belonging, showcases undergraduate student research covering a broad range of scholarship across a variety of disciplines. Each spring UIC students present their research, scholarship and high-impact engagements, accompanied by a poster or other visual display that captures the spirit of the research work and/or highlights key features of the project. Students from all disciplines (Arts, Business, Computer Science, Engineering, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, among others) speak one-on-one to Forum attendees and judges during a high-energy 3-hour session.
University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Day “Posters Under the Dome” Posters Under the Dome is a collaboration between all three universities within the University of Illinois system – UIC, UIUC and UIS – spotlighting the discoveries and accomplishments of undergraduates who are engaged in research. It provides a venue for students to present their work in poster format at the Illinois State Capitol to Illinois representatives and others on a day dedicated specifically to undergraduate research. The event also helps members of the Illinois legislature better understand the importance of involving undergraduates in research, scholarly, and creative work.