Students conducting undergraduate research make original intellectual or creative contributions to a discipline—from art history to economics to biology. Your contribution may be large, such as a new discovery or game changing way of thinking in that discipline. Or it may be more modest, an extension of existing ideas that broaden our knowledge or deepen the practice of the field. But, as long as you’re asking questions using the methodologies of the discipline, it’s “research.”
Undergraduate research complements your coursework. Projects are conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor and are typically related to the mentor's scholarly work, particularly in the sciences. However, projects in the humanities may be more independent, with the mentor providing guidance in the methodology and ideas of the field. Either way, as you advance through your research project, you will become a more independent scholar with intellectual ownership for all aspects of inquiry, problem solving and analysis.
