A female student works with a researcher in a lab on the UC Davis campus
Undergraduate Research

Students connect
to hands-on learning

Whether you’re interested in laboratories or libraries, at UC Davis you can get hands-on research experience. And you’ll be working with top-notch faculty mentors and some of the best graduate students in the world. Undergraduates are encouraged to dive into research at UC Davis. You can do it through internships on campus, at the UC Davis Medical Center, with local industry or under the guidance of a professor.

Getting started

Find areas of interest that excite you and fire up your curiosity!
A male student turning back to look at something in the distance

Fund Your Research

The Undergraduate Research Center hosts several awards to enhance research experiences.
A UC Davis student intently listens to others at an academic gathering

Find an Internship

Many internships are research-focused.
A student discusses her research goals with her peers

Define your college career with a capstone project

Our students may be co-authors on papers published in professional journals. They also have the chance to publish original research in Explorations, the UC Davis undergraduate journal. More than 700 students present their work at our annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference.

A student researcher filling her test tube with a pipette

Fellowships, travel awards
and chancellor’s award

The Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowships and Travel Awards support undergraduate research activities, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research is presented annually to two top student researchers.

Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowships Chancellor's Undergraduate Research Award
An undergraduate researchers surveys the seashore near Bodega Bay, California

5 Reasons undergraduates should do research