Undergraduate Research

Research Photo

Undergraduate Research 
Opportunities

We Believe That You Learn 
Neuroscience Best by Doing 
Hands-on Research!
The Department of Neuroscience is committed to advancing the academic career of next-generation scientists by connecting them to groundbreaking research. We strongly encourage all students to become involved with research!
One main advantage of attending a major research university is the opportunity to participate in world-class research programs. Giving you the opportunity to explore research as a possible career option, you will work with professional colleagues in what often becomes a lifelong professional relationship.
By providing undergraduates with research opportunities spanning a wide range of research areas and experiences including Course-Based Research Undergraduate Experience (CURE) courses, for-credit research studies, internships, or paid lab positions, we feel there is something for everyone! 

Participating in undergraduate research expands your academic experience, gives you the opportunity to explore an academic discipline more fully, strengthens your transferable skills and provides many other benefits for your post-graduation plans. In sum, your participation in research develops and testifies to your independence of thought. Being an original thinker is a highly desirable trait.
  • Transferable Skills: Undergraduate research strengthens written and oral communication, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and information literacy. More than likely, if you conduct research, you will be presenting your findings either orally or in poster format. Being able to convey scientific to the general public as well as other scientists is a highly valuable skill. 
  • Confidence: Undergraduate research builds confidence in your abilities and improves your overall perception of the discipline.
  •  Community: Undergraduate research provides opportunities to build a learning community with faculty and fellow students. 
  • Academic Achievement: Undergraduate researchers demonstrate higher achievement and are more likely to stay in school. 
  • Career Goals: Undergraduate research can help you clarify your choice of degree program, career interests, and post-graduation plans. 
  • Connection to faculty! Your research director becomes your advisor and often your mentor and provides you with information on job opportunities, different graduate programs and various professional schools. 
  • Graduate and Professional School: Undergraduate researchers are more likely to move into graduate programs.
  •  Employers, graduate programs and professional schools will usually request letters of recommendation and/or telephone calls from your research mentor. Having a faculty member who knows your accomplishments and experience is beneficial when competing for these positions. When you go to interviews, your research activities may become the central focus of the interview!

Opportunities for research experiences come in many shades. While course-based research experiences offer only a given research area, for-credit research experiences offer a wide range or research areas from all over the campus (see, “Getting Started” module). 
 
1. Course-Based Research Undergraduate Experience (CURE) courses:  
  • NROS  397 - VIP-CURE: Brain Communication Networks (website coming soon) 
  • NROS 314 – CURE: Neuroscience Research (coming fall ’25) 
2. For-credit research experiences in individual labs (see below for more detail) 
  • Independent Study (1 semester commitment, can be taken multiple times) 
  • Directed Research (1 semester commitment, can be taken multiple times) 
  • Senior Capstone (2 semester commitment) 
  • Honors thesis (2 semester commitment) 
3. Internships (webpage under development) 

4. Paid lab positions 

The process of finding a research project, lab, and research advisor looks complicated – but then it’s not:
1. Choose a broad research area of interest. As an undergraduate it is important to maintain a broad perspective. Defining a narrow area of research interest will considerably limit your options. For example, “neurodegeneration” is relatively broad whereas finding someone who studies “mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration in Batten disease” would greatly restrict your possible choices.
  • Start your search for neuroscience-related labs on the websites of the Departments of Neuroscience, CBC, MCB, Neurology, Physiology, Psychology and the Neuroscience Graduate Program by reviewing faculty research specialties.
  •  Another place to start learning about neuroscience labs at the University is to take the Neuroscience Colloquium (NROS 195B). 
  • Yet, another place to start browsing for research is the |The Undergraduate Research & Inquiry Collaborative|, which promotes undergraduate research opportunities across campus. The Collaborative brings together centralized resources to expand access to undergraduate research and inquiry (URI), to coordinate outreach and support, to showcase URI talent, to provide training, and to enhance the quality of the URI experience with a focus on equity, inclusion, and cultivating success for all students  
  • If you are unsure how to proceed in selecting an area of interest, you should meet with our research counselors (to be named) who can provide some guidance. 
  • Only general faculty can be your research faculty advisor, not post-docs, graduate or undergraduate students. However, post-doc and graduate students can serve as supervisors. 
2. Contact potential research advisors (professors) by emailing them, calling them on the phone, or simply visiting their office to arrange an appointment to discuss possible research opportunities in their labs. If you do not get a response within a week, you should contact a research counselor for assistance to help “grease the wheels”.
3. Meet with professors to discuss your interests, courses, experience, possible projects, and time commitments.
4. Choose a project. Make an appointment with that faculty member to close the deal.
5. Enroll for credit.
See Academic Credit for Research Experience for more information.
Note: All students must submit a |Research Enrollment Form| for each term in which they will receive credit (the most current form is available on the Undergraduate Studies Forms page).

Signing up for credit for an independent study or directed research requires submission of a |Research Enrollment Form| for each term. The form requires selection of an appropriate study, a description of the proposed project that has been agreed on, and signatures by a supervisor and the research mentor. The form can be found also on the |Undergraduate Studies Forms Page|. 
Enrollment for the research experience is finalized by submitting the completed and signed Research Enrollment Form to the NSCI/NSCS Program Coordinator |Maria Rodriguez| either in person (Gould-Simpson room 624) or by email (mmrodriguez@arizona.edu). 
1. Which research experience is right for me? 
Lower-division versus upper-division courses: 
a lower-division course is appropriate for students who are doing research for the first time; students will be performing relatively simple projects. Upper-division courses are appropriate for any student with some research experience, regardless of class standing. Research projects are typically more complex and challenging.
Independent Study versus Directed Research:
Expectations for students taking Directed Research are higher than for Independent Studies. Directed Research is appropriate for students with significant research experience as they are expected to engage in their own well-defined research project and make intellectual contributions to the project. Directed Research is not suitable for students performing routine tasks such as data entry, data analysis, or lab maintenance. Directed Research is graded using regular A-E grades and will factor into the student’s GPA in contrast to an Independent Study. 
  • Independent Study (NROS 199, 299, 399, 499): Qualified students working on an individual basis on a research project with a professor and/or a research supervisor who have agreed to sponsor and supervise such work. Credit varies. Grades available: S, P, F, I, W. 
  • Independent Study – Honors (NROS 199H, 299H, 399H, 499H): Qualified students working on an individual basis on a research project with a professor and/or a research supervisor who have agreed to sponsor and supervise such work. Credit varies. Grades available: A, B C, D, E, I, W 
  • Directed Research (NROS 392, 492): Qualified students working on an individual basis on a research project with a professor and/or a research supervisor who have agreed to sponsor and supervise such work. Credit varies. Grades available A, B, C, D, E, I.  
  • Directed Research – Honors (NROS 392H, 492H): Qualified students working on an individual basis on a research project with a professor and/or a research supervisor who have agreed to sponsor and supervise such work. Credit varies. Grades available A, B, C, D, E, I 
2. How many units should I register for?  
The number of credits for the research experience must be within the approved credit range listed in the catalog course description.  
A minimum of 45 hours of course work is required for each unit of credit awarded. This amounts to approximately 3 hours per week, per unit. It is a good idea to discuss your lab schedule with your mentor first, figure out how many hours per week you will work, and then determine how many units those hours are worth. Most students enroll for between 1-3 units, depending on how many hours they commit to working in the lab. Keep in mind, the amount of time spent on research must not interfere with the student’s academics. 
3. What are the expectations?  
At the beginning of the semester, the research mentor/project advisor will explain to the student the expected learning outcomes of the independent study or directed research project; the expected scope of reading, lab or field work; the expected work products, and the criteria to be used for evaluation and grading.  
Students must complete the required 45 hours of course work per credit unit before the last day of the term. 
The final letter grade for the graded research units is assigned by the instructor of record (i.e. the project advisor) considering the discussed expectations of the project and the overall research performance of the student.   
4. Students cannot be paid the time spent on lab work that is part of an enrolled course such as an Independent Study, Directed Research, or a Senior Thesis/Capstone. Therefore, academic credit can be awarded only for faculty-approved academic work; paid laboratory work must follow university or programmatic policies for student employment. 
5. Students must enroll within the first three weeks of the Fall, Spring or Summer Semesters. The last day to register for Independent Study without incurring a late charge is the same as for all other courses. See University of Arizona information on |Deadlines| and Tuition and Fees - Late Payment Charge. If registration for an Independent Study course occurs after the twenty-first day of the regular semester, or after the first week of a Summer Session, the Undergraduate Program Coordinator must sign the Change of Schedule form, in addition to the instructor. 
6. If a grade of Incomplete is awarded for an Independent Study course at the end of the term, another Project Advisor must be identified who agrees to evaluate the student’s work, should the original Project Advisor become unavailable. 
7. Questions: Contact the NSCI/NSCS Program Coordinator Maria Rodriguez either in person (Gould-Simpson, 624 or by email (mmrodriguez@arizona.edu).  

Finding a project works the same way as explained above. However, you do not enroll for credit.  

To comply with UA and departmental safety policies, all students working in labs must attend the Risk Management General Laboratory Chemical Hygiene Training (i.e., Lab Safety Training) course AND the Responsible Conduct in Research workshop prior to starting their lab work. Done through D2L. 

The Senior Capstone and Honors Thesis in Neuroscience (NSCI) are laboratory-based research experiences guided by a faculty member spanning the senior year culminating in a thesis and a formal presentation in the annual Neuroscience Poster Forum. The Senior Capstone and Honors Thesis in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science (NSCS) should be laboratory-based research experiences but can also be an independent literature review guided by a faculty member. These experiences are expected to help you: 
  • integrate your knowledge of neuroscience, 
  • give you an opportunity to delve deeply into and think critically about a particular area of neuroscience by engaging in a sustained laboratory-based research project, and 
  • develop an appreciation for and skill in research in the neuroscience field. 
Students in the Honors College use the format of the senior capstone thesis toward both their Neuroscience degree and their required Honors Thesis.  
Both the Senior capstone and the Honors Thesis require a minimum of two semesters in the final year that are usually comprised of focused research work, followed by a semester of writing a thesis, and a formal poster presentation at the annual Neuroscience Poster Forum (including completion of 6 units total of NROS 498(H)).  

 

Interested? |Click here to read on| (Senior Capstone webpage to be developed)
Presenting you Research Findings 
The most rewarding experience for a Scientist is to take advantage of opportunities to present research findings to the community! 
The |Undergraduate Neuroscience Poster Forum| is an annual Poster to highlight research opportunities for undergraduates through a poster session. The Forum features the research projects conducted by NSCI/NSCS undergraduate students and a platform to learn and exchange knowledge and ideas.  
Here are some major events for NSCI/NSCS majors: 
  • Annual Neuroscience Poster Forum  

In addition to the funds indicated below, your research advisor may be able to provide funds for your conference attendance. 
The following programs may be accessed for additional funding, especially if you plan to present your research findings. 

You can participate in an internship anytime during your academic career, and it could be a nice way to “try out” a job or ease the transition into a job after your graduation. 
Click here to read on. 

The MARC Program is a unique research, mentoring, financial and academic opportunity for undergraduates belonging to a group considered underrepresented in biomedical research and who have the interest and potential to pursue a PhD or combined PhD (e.g. MD/PhD) degree. The program is a two-year program intended for the last two years of a student’s enrollment at the University of Arizona. 
Click here to read on.