Opportunities for Research

Paths for Exploration

When you look for undergraduate research opportunities at UC San Diego, use the following paths or categories to help narrow your search and define the kind of experience you hope to find. Useful information about undergraduate research possibilities exists in many places: on the UC San Diego Web, in academic departments, with advising staff, and with your faculty, friends and fellow classmates. Be patient yet persistent; the experience will enrich your undergraduate years and your professional future.

Existing Opportunities/Courses

Students can conduct research across undergraduate disciplines and departments at UC San Diego, often independently or in small groups/classes. One way to begin to create a project is to review what’s offered in the undergraduate departments and programs. These courses are most often Special Studies Courses: those numbered 97, 98, 99 and 197, 198, 199. Contact advising staff in your college and the specific departments for more information. Consult the right hand side of this page for a list of departments, programs, schools and divisions that offer undergraduate research opportunities.

Academic Enrichment Program (AEP)

The office of Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP) offers UCSD undergraduates opportunities to obtain valuable research-oriented academic experience in virtually any academic major including science, math, engineering, social sciences and the arts and humanities. AEP initiatives are designed to encourage undergraduates to pursue Ph.D.'s, medical degrees, and other advanced degrees.

AEP's enrichment programs include: the Faculty Mentor Program; California Alliance for Minority Participation in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Program (CAMP); Health and Medical Professionals Preparation Program (HMP3); McNair Program; Summer Research Program; UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference, and Graduate School Application Awards. For more information visit the AEP Website.

Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD)

The Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) is a program supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institute of Health. It is directed at motivating UCSD undergraduate students toward a career in science. Students participate in paid, hands-on, bench research experienced at different, superb laboratories within UCSD. These students are exposed to rich, scientific environments where they gain experience, self confidence, and the motivation to pursue a Ph.D. degree. During this time, students participate in a research project, seminars, workshops, a peer mentoring program, and other regular laboratory activities, such as group meetings and journal clubs. Students that actively participate in the IMSD Program for at least one year, who are recommended as outstanding by their mentors, and that maintain a GPA above 3.0 will obtain conditional acceptance into the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate program as well as the Bioengineering graduate program at UCSD. Explore the IMSD Website

International Opportunities/Study Abroad

Travel and study abroad provide fertile ground for various undergraduate research projects. Students can work with a faculty mentor to build a research component into their time studying abroad. For more information, contact advisers in the academic department of your major or proposed course of study, and staff in the study abroad programs listed below.

Volunteer Opportunities

Don’t forget to consider the broad range of Student Involvement Opportunities, which are enormously helpful for defining your research interests and building networks. Participation in student organizations, leadership activities and community outreach programs often leads to more formal research projects. Also see the Experiential Learning site. The San Diego Supercomputer Center is offering Undergraduate Volunteer Winter Research Opportunities as part of their CREU program.

Opportunities Off Campus

The Career Services Center coordinates programs that involve undergraduate research opportunities off campus. They include a number of funded opportunities and internship resources.

Council on Undergraduate Research

The Council on Undergraduate Research hosts a Registry of Undergraduate Researchers. The purpose of this registry is to facilitate matchmaking between undergraduates who have research experience and a desire to pursue an advanced degree, with graduate schools seeking high quality students who are well prepared for research. The Registry is open to students and graduate schools in the fields of Anthropology/Archaeology, Arts/Humanities, Biology/Biochemistry, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Economics, Engineering, Geosciences, Health Professions, Mathematics/Computer Science, Physics/ Astronomy, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology. Any undergraduate may go to www.cur.org/ugreg/ to fill out a simple curriculum vitae form.

Funded Opportunities

Paid positions are available to undergraduate students, who can explore listings at the Career Services Center. The Academic Enrichment Program also has funded research opportunities available to qualified undergrads.

Undergraduate Research Conferences

Conferences organized around undergraduate research topics take place on and off campus. Also check (URL to our Events button) regularly for updates.

Getting to Know Professors/Small Seminars

One way to get to know faculty members who might guide you in your research project selection is to attend small undergraduate seminars. Check with staff advisers in the academic departments and programs, and reference the Undergraduate Seminar Programs page.

Honors Programs

Honors programs in the six colleges and selected academic departments often contain a research component: a project, a portfolio presentation, or a longer paper or study, for example. For more information consult the college Web sites and the academic departments listings.

Also See:

Visit the student portal TritonLink to access additional information about research options available to undergraduate students. Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP) offers a wide range of research-based opportunities and success strategies to assist qualified undergraduates as they pursue their degree. A number of these opportunities are funded.

Log on to the Bulletin Board of research opportunities posted by both students and faculty:

Research Opportunity Highlights

^{—Last Updated: May 24, 2013}

Summer Internship Postings Paid and unpaid internships offered from CONNECT and Commnexus member companies. Please open the link for descriptions.
•     Everyone Counts – Tech Operations/IT
•     Everyone Counts – Election Admin
•     PhiloMetron, Inc. – CAD
•     TicketSocket –Lead Web Designer
•     Precision Information – Sales/Marketing
•     Pacific Integrated Energy – Lab Assistant
•     BUMP Network – Online Marketing/PR
•     The Language Express – Strategic Marketing

The City of San Diego's Corporate Partnership Program (CPP) is looking for summer interns. The CPP handles all the corporate marketing partnerships for the City (i.e. wireless, vending, vehicles, program funding, etc.). They are looking for interns who are interested in getting some real-world experience in marketing, promotions, contract management, events, etc. and work in the heart of downtown. See attached for application details.

Grand Challenges in Global Health
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now accepting grant proposals for Round 11 of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to encourage innovative and unconventional global health solutions. View the Grand Challenges website for more details.

APAPA Bay Area College Summer Internship Program Open is currently searching for college students of the Asian Pacific Islander background interested in gaining firsthand knowledge and experience in governmental and public affairs. Internships this year will include Mayor Ed Lee (San Francisco), Mayor Jean Quan (Oakland), and Congressman Mike Honda (San Jose). View the application for more details.

XSEDE13 National High Performance Computing Conference Open
UCSD invites high school and undergraduate students to a national computing conference .
• Student Day Wednesday, July 24, 2013 
• San Diego Marriott Marquis Hotel and Marina

For more information visit the SDSC TeacherTECH website

SG Biofuels Summer Internships –
SG Biofuels is looking for summer interns for their San Diego laboratory and Bioinformatics research team. Please read the position descriptions and send your resume to Adi Ramon, aramon@sgbiofuels.com

City of San Diego – Water Quality Monitoring Summer Internship –
The City of San Diego is accepting applications for its summer Water Quality Monitoring Internship Program. This is a full-time, paid position for students who are interested in gaining hands-on experience. View the position description and application details.

San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC) – Citizen Science Program Research Assistant
SDRVC, a non-profit organization, is looking for a research assistant who has a passion for wildlife, conservation and the outdoors. The research assistant will be involved in creating a sustainable, cost effective, scientifically-valid multiple species monitoring protocol that can be carried out by volunteer citizen scientists. To apply for the position, please send your resume to sponting@ucsd.edu.

Internship Opportunities with Northrup Grumman
•     For college level internships we typically look for rising sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students
•     Work assignments typically begin in May/June and end in August/September and year round
•     Programs include orientation and kick-off events, networking opportunities with leadership and other interns, social activities, and learning sessions
For more information visit the Northrup Grumman Careers page.

2013 Janssen Pharmaceutical R&D Summer Intern (job number: 0000096D)
Janssen Research & Development, L.L.C, a member of Johnson & Johnson's Family of Companies is recruiting for R&D Summer 2013 Interns. For more details please visit: http://careers.jnj.com/. Students who are interested in the San Diego location must have synthetic organic chemistry laboratory experience (multi-step synthesis, familiarization with analytical instrumentation). If you would like to apply to this position please email your resume (pdf) to:
             David Kummer, Ph.D.
             Scientist
             Janssen Research & Development
             Medicinal Chemistry, Immunology
             Dkummer1@its.jnj.com

The UC San Diego Director of Energy Initiatives is looking for a first year MBA student with an engineering undergraduate degree to be his understudy for at least a year, and hopefully for two. Please contact Byrom Washom, bwashom@ucsd.edu, if interested.

Research Resources for Undergraduates: UCSD Undergraduate Research Scholarships

National Competitive Scholarships

Learn more by visiting aep.ucsd.edu

AAMC Association of American Medical Colleges Summer Research Programs

Institute for Broadening Participation

View Summer Research Opportunities Flyer

Intership Opportunities at NASA

The Science Education Programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory enable undergraduate students in STEM fields to participate in a summer internship including: Department of Energy (DOE) Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI), Higher Education Research Experiences, and Department of Energy (DOE) Community College Institute (CCI). For a full list of programs visit http://www.orau.org/ornl.