A Culture of Undergraduate Research at Duke
From their first year at Duke, undergraduates have the opportunity to engage in original research that helps them develop the intellectual skills essential for success in our information-intensive world. Mentored by our world-class faculty, students begin to have daily contact with the inquiry process, to collaborate with professors and graduate students, and to become experts as a result of the research they conduct.
Research courses introduce students to research methodologies; independent study courses involve students in ongoing university research as full participants or provide the framework for students to initiate investigations into a topic of interest, often as part of a project that leads to graduation with distinction.
The Undergraduate Research Support Office identifies grants and assistantships for undergraduate research projects and summer research programs. Summer opportunities for first-, second-, and third-year students are offered through the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Programs, the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, the Pratt School of Engineering, and a variety of departmental programs. Several programs offer travel and research grants, including awards for research abroad. See the Opportunities section of this URS web site.
What is research? Research is, simply, a structured scholarly inquiry that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to a discipline. The discipline guides the types of methodologies and analyses used in the inquiry, and it also sets expectations for how results relate to and expand existing disciplinary knowledge.
What is undergraduate research? Undergraduate research is research, as described above, conducted by an undergraduate student. An undergraduate research project is always conducted with the guidance of a mentor or instructor and is typically integrated into or related to the mentor's scholarly work. With strong mentoring, a student advances from a position as a relatively dependent apprentice to a more independent scholar who can set an agenda for inquiry, problem solving and analysis.
Much undergraduate research is accomplished in independent study courses, and can include research that leads to Graduation with Distinction. Student research can also be conducted with summer fellowship support, either through a group program or individual awards for faculty-guided projects. Some of these awards are restricted, for example, to first year students or research abroad, but many are open to all students and all disciplines. When research is supported through a fellowship or other type of award, the student may not receive academic credit.