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Getting Started
- Opportunities at NC State
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- Summer Undergraduate Research & Creativity Symposium
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- Michael Dickey Outstanding Research Mentor Award
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Have questions about finding opportunities, finding mentors, or what research means? The best way to get started is to ask us questions ! OUR staff and OUR ambassadors are here to support you.
Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate Research (UGR) is scholarly study in any discipline in which inquiry, discovery, and creativity culminate in advancements in science, technology, the arts, or the humanities. It is the behavioral endeavor employed only by humans and, in this case, it is undergraduates who work under the mentorship of proven scholars, experts, and professionals. Any undergraduate may participate in UGR. Students from all disciplines can engage in the excitement of scholarly research.
Examples of Scholarly Research Projects
- Going on archeological digs to learn about past cultures, societies or the evolution of life on Earth
- Designing complementary art for unique architectural settings
- Developing new ways to manage wildlife and plant populations and their habitat
- Studying ancestral lineages using the tools of modern genetics
- Defining product design based on marketing data
- Reinterpreting a literary author’s intentions based on the site where it was written
- Finding ways to grow more food on less land with less water, fertilizers and pesticides
- Predicting stock market shifts based on uncertainties of the last four years
- Developing inexpensive textile fibers that are soft, durable and easily cleaned
- Engineering nano-machines for administering potent drugs in small amounts into the body
- Want more examples? Take a look at our most recent Symposia abstract books ! Find project ideas, associated mentors to review, and more!
Six Steps to Getting Involved
Not sure what to do or have questions about the steps below? Schedule an appointment or drop by the OUR to meet with one of our student ambassadors or staff members. We’re happy to help!
This document provides information on frequently asked questions regarding expectations and credit/paid opportunities.
In addition to the steps and suggestions below, review faculty and staff pages, research space sites, department pages (including research sections), ePack, etc. The OUR has recently retired its researcher database but will be soliciting student feedback as we create/seek out a new one (expected to launch in Fall 2024).
Meet with the OUR
There are many research opportunities and researchers at NC State. Meet with us to discuss undergraduate research and navigate moving forward.
Determine Your Interests
Think about what you want to do. What problems do you want to solve? What are you curious about? What fascinates you or makes you happy to learn about? Research can be done in your major, outside of your major, and/or as a combination of majors or disciplines.
Contact Potential Mentors
Write an email to schedule a meeting with them (the OUR can help with communications). Briefly tell the potential mentor your interests, why you want to work with them, and that you’d like to learn more about their research. Be concise; you’ll have time to promote yourself when you meet.
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- Give Now
Undergraduate research in an invaluable experience for students. It gives insight into what a career in research or even graduate school will be like. As a student in BAE, there are many opportunities to get involved with faculty, sometimes even over multiple years. For this reason, BAE students are ready to hit the ground running after graduation. This makes them highly sought after job candidates by government, industry and other top-ranked research universities.
Pigs, Poultry, the Planet and Data-Driven Problem-Solving: Undergraduate Summer Fellowship
Travel the world and learn about data science while getting paid this summer in a new Research and Extension Experience for Undergraduates summer fellowship program offered by the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering in conjunction with the Prestage Department of Poultry Science.
Pigs, Poultry, the Planet and Data-Driven Problem-Solving, also known as P4, is a Research and Extension Experience for Undergraduates summer fellowship program. The P4 program is designed to develop the next generation of data-savvy food animal production professionals, extension associates, and researchers. P4 fellows learn how to apply data-driven analytics and problem-solving to address issues surrounding global intensification of poultry and swine production. The program takes place at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, in partnership with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
BAE Research and Educational Enhancement Projects (REEP)
The BAE Research and Educational Enhancement Projects (REEP) are an opportunity for undergraduates to design and conduct research under the supervision of a BAE faculty mentor. These undergraduate research projects provide students a hands-on setting to dive deeper into topics learned in the classroom. Additionally, students develop and sharpen skills for success in graduate school and industry, such as project and time management, procurement of materials, independent and critical thinking, written and verbal communication, etc.
REEP Highlights:
- One academic year (Fall and Spring semesters).
- $4,000 total stipend, plus an additional $500 for project-related expenses.
- Present research to NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Spring semester.
- Submit a research article to the ASABE KK Barnes Undergraduate Student Paper Award Competition.
For more information contact Dr. Lucie Guertault .
National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates
BAE has hosted several National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) students. Dani Winter, BAE alumna, participated in an NSF undergraduate research program under the guidance of François Birgand. In addition to the research she had been participating in for much of her undergraduate career in BAE, she was chosen for the NSF REU program. As part of the NSF REU, she conducted her own tracer study to determine the water quality of a stream after restoration. Undergraduate research prepared Dani for graduate school, which she has started in a Ph.D. program at Purdue University.
Dragonfly Pond Works Scholars Program
The Dragonfly Pond Works Scholars Program pairs juniors and seniors majoring in Agricultural and Environmental Technology at NC State with mentors from Dragonfly Pond Works as well as faculty members from the department.
Dragonfly Pond Works is an environmental service company specializing in lake and pond management. After representatives were invited to speak with students in an Ecological Restoration Implementation class. Read more about the program here.
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NC State is a research powerhouse that overcomes global challenges and works with industry and government to improve our world.
We Solve Problems
No matter where it starts — in a lab on campus, in a field in rural North Carolina, on an island in the Pacific — all NC State research ultimately arrives at the same destination: the real world . Our faculty and students engage with real problems, and they find real solutions.
We’re a leader in big data, biomedical engineering, materials science, food safety, translational medicine and more. And our research gets results.
Results Magazine
NC State is a wellspring of big ideas and bold steps forward. Want to follow along? Our digital magazine, Results, is your source for the latest research and innovation stories coming out of campus.
From Our Labs to Your Life
NC State’s world-class researchers get straight to work solving society’s most pressing problems — and their innovative outcomes are felt locally, nationally and globally.
We develop textile technology that helps the human body heal. We raise healthier animals and grow more nutritious crops. We train best-in-class educators and bring history to life through the digital humanities. We architect smarter, more sustainable communities. We engineer efficient energy and upgrade infrastructure. We even use artificial intelligence to predict and respond to natural disasters.
Quantum computing. Data analysis. Precision agriculture. CRISPR. Tomorrow’s most advanced fields all have roots right here.
Research in Action
October 29, 2024
Which Students Fare Worst When Natural Disasters Close Schools?
School closures due to natural disasters have similar impacts on student performance across economic groups.
October 28, 2024
Zom-bees, Mummies and Vampire Mites: Three Tales of Haunted Hives
Zombies! Mummies! Vampires! We reveal three spooky (and very real) enemies of the western honey bee.
When is a Heat Wave Just a Heat Wave, and When is it Climate Change?
A 2023 heat wave helped establish processes that tease out whether particular weather events are climate related.
Over $583 Million in Annual Research Expenditures
NC State is No. 6 in research spending among public universities without a medical school.
A Hub for Scientific Inquiry
At NC State, we believe that research is for everyone and big ideas can come from anywhere. So we’ve turned our campus into a beacon for curious, creative thinkers of all kinds. You’ll find students, faculty members and multinational corporations alike chasing their hunches here — and joining forces to solve problems together.
We also know that the world’s grand challenges don’t mimic the neat organizational structure of a traditional university. NC State finds new ways to bridge the disciplines every day , whether it’s through our interdisciplinary faculty clusters or our state-of-the-art facilities designed to foster collaboration.
23 National Academy Members
leading the way in engineering, medicine and the sciences
#5 in Invention Disclosures
among public universities without a medical school
200+ Startups and Spinoffs
launched on the basis of NC State research
Powerful Partnerships
Innovation is a team sport. That’s why we reach out to partners across the public and private sectors in our search for global solutions.
NC State’s Centennial Campus, an award-winning national model for public-private research campuses , houses more than 70 government, industry and nonprofit partners alongside an equal number of NC State research and academic units.
In every partnership — from driving innovation with the National Science Foundation to helping businesses bring ideas to market — we work for more than our own interests: We seek solutions that will serve all of society.
Engage With Us
Partnerships
Put a leading research university to work for you. Our industry partners get access to unparalleled brainpower, top-of-the-line facilities and more.
Learn how you’ll benefit
Centennial Campus
Discover one of the premier research campuses in North America, a vibrant community where faculty, students and partners work side by side.
Take a trip to Centennial
Commercialization
We provide innovators with a range of programs and services to protect, market and license intellectual property developed at NC State.
Join an economic engine
Office of Research and Innovation
NC State’s Office of Research and Innovation supports leading-edge research and scholarship in the Wolfpack community by fostering collaborations, securing funding, helping entrepreneurs commercialize research and more.
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