Finding Undergraduate Research as a First-Year or Transfer Student

Start With Your Campus Research Office

Most universities run an undergraduate research office, sometimes called an office of undergraduate research or a research scholars program. This office keeps a list of open positions across departments, runs a matching database, and hosts info sessions early in the fall semester aimed at first-year and transfer students.

Search your school's website for "undergraduate research office" and check whether it publishes a searchable database of current openings. If your school has no dedicated office, your dean of students or academic advising office points you to the right department contact.

Search Faculty and Lab Pages Directly

Every department website lists faculty with their research interests, and many labs keep their own pages listing current projects and open positions. Read faculty bios in your intended major, or in any subject you find interesting, and note two or three whose work interests you before you reach out.

Graduate student and postdoc lab pages sometimes list openings faster than the faculty page itself, since they run the day-to-day work students join. Check both.

Use National Databases and Networks

The Council on Undergraduate Research runs a peer-reviewed student journal, a job board, and an annual national conference where undergraduates present work, all useful for seeing what research at your level looks like before you commit. Reading a few papers or abstracts from students at your own school is the fastest way to understand what a first-year contribution looks like.

Ask in Class and During Office Hours

Professors mention their current research in lecture more often than students notice. If a topic in class interests you, stay after or visit office hours and ask a specific question about that work rather than a general request for openings. Teaching assistants and graduate students often know about open positions in the lab before the faculty page is updated.

What Changes for Transfer Students

Transfer students often start research later than continuing students because they arrive with fewer existing relationships on campus. Counter that by treating your first semester as an outreach semester: meet your advisor early, ask specifically about research opportunities during your intake advising appointment, and mention any research or lab work from your previous institution, since it counts as real experience even if the field differs from your new major.

Some research offices run a transfer-specific research or mentoring program to shorten this gap. Ask directly whether one exists, since it is not always advertised on the general research office homepage.

Build a Simple Outreach Plan

• Pick three faculty members or labs whose work interests you, based on department pages.

• Read one recent paper, abstract, or project summary from each before contacting them.

• Visit office hours or send a short, specific email asking about current or upcoming openings.

• Follow up once after a week with no response, then move to the next name on your list.

• Register with your campus undergraduate research office so you appear in any matching database it runs.

What Counts as Undergraduate Research

Research experience is not limited to a lab bench. Data collection for a social science project, archival work for a history department, coding for a computational project, and creative work supervised by a faculty mentor in the arts all count. Course-embedded research, where a class builds a research project into the syllabus, is often the easiest entry point for a first-year student since it needs no separate application.

Attend Research Symposiums and Poster Sessions

Most campuses run at least one undergraduate research symposium or poster session each year, open to any student. Walk through it during your first semester even with no project of your own. Talking to current student researchers about how they found their position teaches you more about your own campus process than any general guide, and gives you specific names and labs to follow up with afterward. Keep a business card or note their name and lab so you have a warm contact ready when you send your own outreach emails.

Volunteer Before You Ask for a Paid Position

Some labs bring on new undergraduates as volunteers for a semester before offering a paid or credit-bearing role, especially in fields where lab training takes time before a student contributes independently. If a professor offers an unpaid start, ask directly whether the role can convert to paid work, course credit, or a listed authorship later, so you understand the path before you commit your semester.

Keep a Record of Your Outreach

Track who you contacted, when, and what they said, in a simple spreadsheet or notes file. A short list makes it easy to follow up at the right time and avoids emailing the same professor twice by accident. It also gives you a ready list of contacts when you later look for a recommendation letter or a paid summer research position.