Undergraduate Student Research Opportunities - Research Office
Undergraduate research—nationally recognized as a high-impact practice—is particularly strong on campus. Led by a committee of faculty members from many disciplines, Montana Tech’s undergraduate research program offers several ways for students—from freshmen to seniors—to get involved, collaborate with faculty, and make discoveries that advance the frontiers of knowledge and technology. The Research Office manages the program and supports the faculty committee. The URP provides only one avenue for students to participate in research. Other avenues include joining a funded research project, working for the on-campus Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (MBMG), or working for Montana Tech’s Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP), or Center for Environmental Remediation and Assessment (CERA), or conducting research and preparing a senior thesis. Montana Tech also encourages students interested in research or graduate school to spend a summer doing research on campus or at another university or major research laboratory as a paid participant in a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) program. Montana Tech’s URP students also have opportunities to present their results at regional, national, and international conferences.
The Undergraduate Research Program has three types of opportunities: traditional academic year undergraduate research in collaboration with a faculty member (URP); faculty-mentored and designed research project for a team of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors (RAMP); and the paid Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). All of these options are available both to students interested in research and in those whose projects would be public health internships (PHI). These opportunities are described below. Please contact the URP committee at urp@mtech.edu with any questions.
Learn more about the impact of Undergraduate Research at Montana Tech here.
The Traditional Undergraduate Research Program (URP) provides opportunities for students to collaborate with a faculty member to do specific research projects during the academic year for a scholarship and for academic credit. The student writes and submits the proposal, which is reviewed by the faculty URP committee. It is essential to meet with the faculty member, who would mentor the project. to do specific research projects they are interested in for academic credit and a scholarship during the academic year. Students present their results in a talk at the Montana Academy of Sciences annual meeting in April. Many students also present their results at other conferences.
The Undergraduate Research Committee is pleased to open the call for proposals for the Spring 2025 Session of the Research Assistant Mentorship Program (RAMP). This program is for freshman, sophomore, and junior-level researchers (less than 90 credits of completed coursework) that have not yet participated in formal URP funded research. Ideally, full-time faculty members will assemble teams of 3 undergraduate researchers for spring semester research projects.
Proposals (3 pages max) should be drafted by faculty mentors and submitted to urp@mtech.edu no later than 12 p.m. (noon) on the first monday of December. Full details for proposal submission, and the required cover page are attached. No late proposals will be accepted.
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program is designed to provide an intensive, in-depth summer research experience to a small number of Montana Tech undergraduate students. Proposals are written and submitted by the faculty mentor. Projects span 9-10 summer weeks, with students working full time (40 hours per week) or half time (20 hours per week, for a proportionally reduced stipend). SURF students participate in lunch-time professional development workshops over the summer and present a poster at Montana Tech’s SURF symposium in early August. Individual and small-team projects are allowed.
Undergraduate students may also engage in public health internships under the auspices of URP. Proposals are submitted at the same time and in the same manner as for research projects. The review process, eligibility requirements, scholarship amounts, and stipends are the same as for undergraduate research projects.
Some Montana Tech faculty have received funded research grants through various external agencies and many include undergraduate students as hourly employees on these projects. Talk to faculty in your department, CAMP, MBMG, or in the department doing the kind of research you are interested in to find out what opportunities are available.
In addition, many universities and federal laboratories host undergraduate research programs, often called “Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU).” The November to February time frame is when these host sites invite applications. The links below, many others, and those of the professional society for your discipline will have current information, as will Montana Tech’s Career Services Office.
- Nationwide REU OPPORTUNITIES funded by the National Science Foundation
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer Research
The following programs are offered through other institutions and may be available to Montana Tech students:
We are here to answer your questions, and connect you with the right resources to optimize research, growth, and discovery.
MUS 210, 212, 213
(406) 496-4106
ResearchOffice@mtech.edu