Undergraduate Research

Spurring the intellectual curiosity of undergraduate students through active participation in the discovery process is one of the goals of the University Honors College. Because meaningful research experiences promote active learning through guided discovery, the University Honors College offers the Undergraduate Research Fellow (URF) Program. This program encourages undergraduate participation in significant research experiences in all disciplines by fostering collaboration with faculty across campus and by providing funding for student researchers. 

A collaborative research fellowship project may be initiated by either a student or a faculty member, although typically a faculty member approaches a student about a specific role in a project. These collaborative projects should provide opportunities for undergraduates to participate meaningfully with their faculty mentors in intellectually challenging experiences. While it is recognized that research experiences will have some routine elements, it is not expected that student researchers will be engaged in primarily “go-fer” work or housekeeping tasks, such as cleaning lab equipment or filing.

Your two-semester research experience will culminate with the creation and presentation of a scholarly poster or paper at the Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference, an event occurring each spring. Your presentation enables you and other Fellows to share your work, to gain experience in formal scholarship/research presentations, and to bring visibility to undergraduate research at Texas Tech University. Poster and paper presentations will be evaluated by Texas Tech faculty and your URF peers.