umich undergraduate research

Student Research Opportunities

The Institute for Social Research is home to many projects that provide opportunities for students to engage in research.

If you are interested in finding a research opportunity, there are several steps you can take:

• Ask your professors about research opportunities. They may have positions available, or know of a project that does.
• The  U-M Careers page  lists open positions at the University of Michigan. Students may find regular, temporary, or part-time positions here.
• The  U-M Student Employment page  lists opportunities specifically for students.

Additional resources for students:

The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program  is a year-long academic experience that engages first, second year and transfer students in research, scholarly, and creative inquiry.

Summer Research Opportunity Program  is designed for outstanding undergraduate students who are underrepresented in their field of study.

For Researchers Seeking Student Research Assistants:

Would you like to hire a student to assist in your research?  Share opportunities on the U-M Student Employment page .

The  Program in Survey and Data Science  is the premier program training survey and data scientists. Conducting research is an essential part of training for students in this program. To connect with skilled MS and PhD students studying survey and data science,  please contact the program .

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• Interviews and Blog Posts
• Vols. 15 - present

About UMURJ

University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Journal is a student-run research journal with a mission to build connections between undergraduate students, graduate students, and the public, as well as among the different academic disciplines, through the publication of non-technical articles in all fields of research.

Volume 17 • 2024

Letter from the Editors

Amy Liu, Evelyn Faust and Kyle Rodrigues

2024-03-09 Volume 17 • 2024

Mission Statement

UMURJ Editors

Acknowledgements

About the staff, deconstructing wahhābism.

Bilal Irfan

Social Sciences

The roots and clinical effects of racial bias in medicine, extensive drug-resistant typhoid fever prevention and management in pakistan: a challenge to public health.

Bilal Irfan, Ihsaan Yasin and Denise Kirschner

Physics and Math

Evaluation of cdm and rbm methods to estimate small q-matrices.

Raphael Jeong-Hin Chin

Life Sciences

Multimodal imaging evaluation of rabbit models.

Ashley Brown, Van Phuc Nguyen, Iyabode Ajayi and Yannis M. Paulus

An analysis of SPEEK as a suitable alternative for Nafion in a proton electrolyte membrane in PEM fuel cells

Ihsaan Yasin and Bilal Irfan

Unlocking the Power of Molecular Cloning: Revolutionizing Medical Microbiology Procedures

Neelabh Datta

Checking the Status: The Evolutionary Explanations and Drug Resistance Prevalence to Dolutegravir for HIV Treatment (A Review)

A study on the effect of zamzam water on the germination and growth of jasminum sambac.

Bilal Irfan and Ihsaan Yasin

Association Between Coexisting Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, and Elevated C-Reactive Protein with Cardiovascular Disease in the Health and Retirement Study

Thomas Karadimas and Helen C.S. Meier

Fitness Costs of Early Life Adversity in Primates

Latest interviews and blog posts posts, interview with anna kirkland, j.d., ph.d., posted by noor fares on 2022-03-30.

Interview with Anna Kirkland, J.D., Ph.D.Interview by Noor FaresProfessor Anna Kirkland is the Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG). She is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and holds courtesy appointments in Sociology, Political Science, and Health Management and Policy. Professor Kirkland has researched and written several books on health, [...]

Interview with Thomas Sisson, MD

Posted by kyle rodrigues on 2022-03-14.

Interview with Dr. Thomas Sisson, MDInterview by Kyle RodriguesDr. Thomas Sisson is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician, a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and the director of the Department of Internal Medicine Physician Scientist Training Program at the University of Michigan. He also runs a lab where he conducts research on pulmonary fibrosis. He received his [...]

Undergrad in the Spence Lab: Interview with Lexi Fine

Posted by sarah tolchin on 2022-03-14.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Lexi Fine to talk about her work as a student researcher at the University of Michigan. Lexi is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in anthropology and minoring in art. We first talked about what made her want to get involved in research as an undergraduate. “Growing up,” Lexi says, “my mom always said she imagined me going into [...]

My research journey: from an MRADS peer mentor

Posted by daisey yu on 2022-01-31.

Daisey Yu is a sophomore pre-med student in LSA.Before coming to Michigan, I had next to zero involvement in research. For a high school graduation requirement, I completed a short internship with a Wayne State University professor. However, those two weeks were not enough for me to fully understand the research process. During that time, my cousin Angela had just graduated from Michigan and [...]

An Interview with Kenneth Cadigan, Ph.D.

Posted by grace abbud on 2022-01-23.

Interview with Dr. Kenneth CadiganInterview by Grace Abbud Dr. Kenneth Cadigan is a Professor and Chair of the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology department at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD from Dartmouth University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Basel, Switzerland and Stanford University. He heads the Cadigan Lab, where his research focuses [...]

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Summer programs expand undergraduate research opportunities

A nursing student from Macomb Community College discovers a fondness for research that opens doors she had not previously considered.

A cell and molecular biology and biomedical engineering dual major doesn’t take on a science-related internship but finds herself making lesson plans and conducting research for a school readiness program.

A student with an interest in humanities and social science research finds a perfect match with a project that examines how schools across the United States handle their responsibilities under Title IX.

These are among the stories of students taking part in a summer program that allowed them tackle a range of research challenges.

The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at the University of Michigan has for 30 years placed freshmen and sophomore students into research settings with faculty mentors. UROP began in 1988 with 15 students and 15 projects, and now has grown to have more than 1,400 students involved with 1,100 projects led by 900 mentors.

“We engage students in undergraduate research in a way to connect one-to-one,” said Luciana Aenasoaie, assistant director UROP. “This is more of a dip your toes in experience to see if you even like it. For first and second year students, they don’t really know what they want to do,” she said, adding that some find out it is not for them while others are inspired to seek additional education and careers involving research.

Like the academic-year UROP program, the summer experiences immerse students in research in a variety of settings. It does so through six programs: Community College Summer Fellowship Program, M-Cubed Scholars Program, Detroit Community Based Research Program, Biomedical and Life Sciences, Intel Semiconductor Research Corporation, and the Summer Research Fellowship in Women and Gender Studies.

For Mikiah Binion, who hopes to transfer to U-M’s nursing program in 2018 from Macomb Community College, the experience has shown that she has options beyond caring for patients.

Her internship was in a lab using high tech equipment to work with nanoparticles called dendrimers—something she had to learn from scratch. The lab is working to determine how these nanoparticles can best serve as carriers to take a drug to a target and release it slowly for better effect.

“I’m learning how to utilize the equipment and I’m learning about the importance of it. When I first interviewed I didn’t really have an idea what it was about until I had the hands-on experience and was able to ask questions,” Binion said.

“She’s very curious, which is what you need from a student. She’s very hard working,” Somnath Bhattacharjee, research investigator, said of his intern.

Another student interested in nursing worked with a Detroit program that serves families of small children.

“I want to go into the nursing field but nursing isn’t just about the body,” said Calahna Butler, a junior in psychology with a nursing path, who worked with preschool children at Brilliant Detroit. “It’s about well roundedness, and about their mental health and how they interact in different environments.”

This is the second year students were placed with Brilliant Detroit, a program that engages neighborhoods in a vision for children to be kindergarten ready and reading at grade level by the third grade, explains co-founder and CEO Cindy Eggleston.

“The way to truly change the world is to start with our kids and assure that they are ready for kindergarten, they are ready along the way, that they have the same opportunity as everyone else,” she said.

Even though the relationship with Brilliant Detroit is only two years old, UROP has been involved with community based work for more than 18 years, five of them in Detroit.

“Our students work on a variety of things, it’s everything from community development, energy efficiency, transportation to food justice, more general social justice work, as well as projects related to early education,” said Jenna Steiner, assistant director of UROP.

Students in the paid internship program work full-time for 10 weeks, and they live on the campus of Wayne State University. Steiner said this gives them a chance to learn from one another, as well as from the organizations.

Dominique Witten was in Detroit during regular school year for her first research experience with UROP. She gathered data on the ways people move on foot through the city of Detroit, recording every shortcut they take, during an experience perhaps more fitting of her science and engineering majors. But for the summer she chose to intern at Brilliant Detroit.

“I actually got to interact with humans. I don’t think I’m ever going to get a chance to work with kids in the way in which I get to do it.” Witten said. “I’m always in this creative mode and I don’t really have an outlet for it, so being here I get to use my creative juices.

“No one ever says research can be fun, so when I discovered research can be fun the doors opened.”

Some learned that research takes a lot of time.

Kalei Glozier, a psychology and women’s studies dual major, signed up to gather information on how 328 schools that receive federal funding comply with Title IV, the law that prohibits discrimination by any federally funded educational program or activity.

Prior to his arrival, graduate students had coded various materials from all the schools so that he could do the analysis.

“It’s kind of crazy when you put it in retrospect. They’ve spent 8 months preparing so I can do my 3-month project. I’ve learned how much effort has to go into research,” Glozier said.

“ The research opportunities the University of Michigan offers are by far the best I’ve seen on college campuses. I feel very lucky to be a part of it.”

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Summer experiences offer opportunities to participate in exciting projects, mentored by and working side-by-side with some of the brightest minds in science and medicine.

Many programs are available not only within the Medical School but across the University of Michigan campus as well.

• Big Data Summer Institute
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Our Office for Health Equity and Inclusion offers residential summer academies where participants ranging from high school students to recent college grads take part in programs focused on health disparities, health sciences careers, leadership development, academic skills training and more.

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Workshops & Events

Upcoming events, seminar series: grant prix.

Join the Office of Research Development for a seminar series on research proposal development, featuring a range of topics designed to boost grant writing expertise!  Each session will provide valuable insights from experienced research development staff and offer practical strategies to help you secure funding for your projects. Register now for an opportunity to elevate your grant writing skills.

Understanding Funders and Funding

Talking to Program Officers

Grantsminship 101

Proposal Development Resources Across U-M

ORD presents a variety of informational and skill-building workshops or webinars, which can be tailored for our unti/team needs. Topics include:

• Writing a Competitive Grant Proposal
• Navigating U-M’s Research Resources
• Understanding Funding & Funders
• Team Science 101
• Writing in Plain Language
• Editing Grant Proposals
• Understanding the Review Process

Recorded webinars :

• Grantsmanship 101 webinar series
• Opportunity Kick-offs for specific funder programs
• Finding Funding webinars

Request Research Development Services

Contact the entire team: [email protected]

Jill Jividen, Executive Director of Research Development, [email protected]

Stephen Alvey, Graphics Specialist: [email protected]

Neil Carver, Program Manager, Bold Challenges, [email protected]

Tricia Ebright, OVPR Grants and Awards Manager, [email protected]

Kelsey Ebbs, Assistant Director of Bold Challenges, [email protected]

Adrianna Trusiak, Assistant Director for Proposal Management, [email protected]

Lin Li, Bold Challenges Research Development Officer, [email protected]

Kelly Manthei, Bold Challenges Research Development Officer, [email protected]

Jonides Lab | Cognitive Neuroimaging

Department of psychology.

About the Lab

Welcome to the university of michigan’s cognitive neuroimaging lab..

Working memory is an integral part of our everyday lives, so much so that most of the time we are not even aware it is at work. Our aim in the Jonides Lab is to better understand the mechanisms and underlying processes that contribute to working memory and to executive processes that operate on the contents of working memory. The majority of our work is concerned with the storage of information in working memory, as well as with executive functions of working memory. Our tasks are intended to study the processes by which participants allocate attention selectively to information in their environment as well as those used to switch attention from one piece of information to another, or inhibit attention to irrelevant information. Also, our lab is interested in individual differences in working memory and how these predict cognitive performance, especially concentrating in how training working memory and executive processing may change performance in cognitive tasks.  Past studies have investigated how transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modify the effects of cognitive training, both for working memory and for other cognitive functions.

Our understanding of working memory and executive processes has substantial impact on understanding a variety of human states. For example, we have been studying changes in executive processing that accompany a variety of pathologies including ADHD, inability to delay gratification, and general susceptibility to distraction. Our work will continue to have translational impact on these and other human conditions that involve changes in cognitive control and working memory.

The Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab directed by John Jonides believes that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are the cornerstones of academic excellence. Our lab fully supports and endorses the University of Michigan’s DEI Statement ( https://diversity.umich.edu/about/defining-dei/ ). Therefore we celebrate diversity through, but not limited to: race and ethnicity; gender and gender identity; sexual orientation; socioeconomic status; language; culture; nationality and origin; religious commitments; age; (dis)ability status; geographic location; and political perspective. Historically, the cognitive sciences have been biased towards majority populations. Therefore, our lab is dedicated to supporting, advocating for, and learning from underrepresented populations by including graduate students, post docs, undergraduate students, research assistants and  research participants from diverse backgrounds to encourage the collaboration of a multitude of perspectives. We promote equal opportunities for all and are committed to ensuring that differences are not only welcomed, but encouraged to foster an enhanced learning environment. Alongside our goal of establishing equity of representation, we pursue unique research projects that promote social good.  Examples are studies of aging populations, those with Major Depressive Disorder, Schizophrenia, and individuals with ADHD.    Come learn with us, and let us learn from you!

Not pictured: Ava Kucera, Milind Pulugura, Noah Scroppo, Sarah Jabre, Zara Manna