For Faculty

The Undergraduate Research Office can help you in your roles as advisers and as mentors for undergraduate researchers.

Advising Undergraduate Students about Research

Do you have advisees or students who are interested in engaging in research? CWRU offers various opportunities and resources to undergraduates who want to participate in research both during the academic year and the summer. Below is a checklist to help you advise students who wish to participate in research. Please feel free to refer them to the Undergraduate Research Office, as well.

• Walk them through the “First Steps” section of the Undergraduate Research Office website, which lists several ways to identify research opportunities on campus.

• Encourage them to attend one of the almost weekly, "All About Finding Research," sessions sponsored by Undergraduate Research Office.

• If students are interested in pursuing research full-time during summer, the Undergraduate Research Office website has a list of both on-campus and off-campus opportunities that students can explore.

• The Undergraduate Research Office provides funding for a variety of full-time projects during summer. Deadlines are early in the spring semester (February for STEM projects and the Friday before Spring Break for all other projects). 

• If you have a student who has been doing research (either on one of your projects or their own independent project) and are looking for an opportunity to present their work, Intersections Poster Session, is an excellent outlet. Held on campus three times a year, this event brings together undergraduates from across the university to share their work with the community.  Intersections welcomes undergraduate researchers to present on-going work at any stage in the research process; students may also present again and again!

Your Own Research

Interested in recruiting undergraduate students to assist in your research? Wondering what programs and funding CWRU has in place for undergraduate research? The Undergraduate Research Office is here to assist you and your (current or potential) undergraduate student researchers. Specifically, we can help with:

• Recruitment: List your research and creative endeavor opportunities on our Opportunity List by completing the, Submit a Research Opportunity Form found on the right margin of this page.

• Funding: We can work with your student researcher to identify and apply for appropriate sources of funding for academic-year or summer programs. We also administer our own competitive awards. Faculty who wish to mentor a summer research student should encourage their undergraduate researchers to submit a SOURCE summer application and faculty need to submit the faculty sponsor form (to the right) by the applicable deadline.

• Research Presentation: Three times a year, the Undergraduate Research Office organizes Intersections, a campus-wide symposium and poster session that provides opportunities for your undergraduate researcher to present their findings in a professional yet celebratory environment. Learn more about Intersections, including guidelines, resources and deadlines. 

• Advertisement: We disseminate “success stories” both through our website and by submitting stories to The Daily (CWRU informational e-mail).

• Mentor Training: Developing an effective mentoring relationship is crucial to student learning in undergraduate research.  Effective mentoring involves specific skills and techniques. The Undergraduate Research Office can provide resources for new and current faculty, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to discuss research-based approaches to make mentoring the best it can be both for you and for your student researchers.