Undergraduate student research opportunities

Undergraduate Research enhances learning by providing hands-on opportunities to apply skills and knowledge learned in the classroom, and engages students in creative thinking and problem solving. Through this "learning-by-doing" model, undergraduate research provides excellent experience for students, whether they are preparing for graduate school or seeking employment in a professional field.

 

Undergraduate Scholars Program

The Undergraduate Scholars Program (USP) is designed to encourage, facilitate, and support undergraduate research and creative activity in collaboration with faculty. Working on specific research/creative projects has been shown to increase student success in other classes, in the job market, and in graduate school. 

McNair Scholars Program

The McNair Scholars Program at MSU serves the needs of 25 undergraduate students annually who are either first-generation/low-income or minorities traditionally underrepresented (e.g. Native American, Latino, Alaskan Native, and African American) in graduate school.

 

Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites support active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program.

Montana INBRE Program

Montana INBRE contributes to the pipleine of future professional researchers by supporting undergraduate research opportunities throughout Montana and extending those opportunities across the IDeA program Western Region. Montana INBRE undergraduate research offers cutting-edge experience working with top-rated faculty in Montana.

 

Center for Biofilm Engineering

Undergraduate students are highly valued team members in the MSU Center for Biofilm Engineering and are fully integrated into the research process. Our undergraduates learn to design and implement experiments that will provide results relevant to industry and the science community—and they develop the skills that will broaden their career opportunities and make them more employable. 

Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC)

Awards for Research in Engineering and Science (ARES) are MSGC's entry-level undergraduate research experience awards. ARES work can be in any non-medical STEM field, though NASA-related projects are preferred. 

 

Empower Program

The Empower Program ("Empower") fosters the inclusion and success of underrepresented minorities and women in engineering and other fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) at MSU. The Empower program provides a variety of support to all underrepresented students in STEM programs across campus.