Undergraduate Research Opportunities Database
Our database is a great resource in helping students find exciting undergraduate research opportunities at Penn State.
To get the best results, we recommend that you select all of the research areas that interest you. We also recommend that you conduct multiple searches.
Campus – Select the campus(es) where you would be interested in participating in research. Depending on the time of year when you are using the database, consider whether your location changes. For example, do you spend your summers closer to a different campus than where you regularly attend school?
Research Area – Select the area(s) of research that interest you most, keeping in mind that research is often interdisciplinary so it might be appropriate to select more than one area. For example, if you are interested in health you might want to search for opportunities in the physical sciences, life sciences, and nursing and health sciences, because these research areas could all be relevant to your interest in health.
Position Type – Select the position type(s) that are most appealing to you. If you prefer whether you earn credit versus being paid, be sure to narrow down the search results using this field.
- “Work Study” is only available to students who have received a federal work-study (FWS) award. You can verify if you have an FWS award by visiting LionPATH and reviewing your "Financial Aid Summary.” If you do not have a federal work-study award, your mentor can also inquire with the Office of Student Aid - 814-865-6301 - to determine if you are eligible to be awarded one.
Mentors interested in creating an account or posting an opportunity should visit the Posting Undergraduate Research Opportunities section.
| Title | Description | Research Area(s) | Position Type(s) | Work Setting(s) | Updated Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Assistant Positions in The Coping and Regulation of Environmental Stress Lab |
The Coping and Regulation of Environmental Stress (CaRES) Lab within the Psychology Department is seeking several part-time research assistants for a large randomized controlled trial investigating coping trajectories of youth. The Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) project will work towards confirming the effectiveness of the BaSICS intervention program in treating and preventing mental health problems in young adolescents from low income households and to evaluate its potential to mitigate the youth mental health crisis by offering group-based services to youth assigned to waitlists at treatment facilities. |
Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Credit, Volunteer |
On campus |
January 8, 2025 |
| Robot and augmented-reality programming for sensorimotor neuroscience research |
This project involves programming a robot in Simulink and MATLAB for sensorimotor neuroscience research. The robot is called the KINARM Endpoint robot (KINARM LAB/) and it is widely used in the field of sensorimotor neuroscience to understand brain function. The robot is programmed so that healthy adults and children as well as patients with neurological disorders can manually interact with it by grabbing a manipulandum. The robot applies gentle forces and participants have to react to those forces. This work will be done in the Sensorimotor Neuroscience and Learning Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology. The laboratory director is Dr. Tarkesh Singh. The laboratory is in the basement of the... |
Engineering, Life Sciences |
Credit, Variable, Volunteer |
On campus |
January 8, 2025 |
| HTI Lab - Undergraduate research assistant in human-automation interaction |
The HTI Lab is seeking undergraduate research assistants to assist with studies related to understanding the interaction between human-system interactions in transportation and healthcare domains. Research topics include understanding the impact of automation technology on humans' decision-making, trust, situation awareness, and adaptive behaviors. We conduct research via behavioral studies with simulators, self-report questionnaires, and physiological measurements. Current projects are listed as follows.
|
Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Science, Nursing and Health Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Credit, Paid, Variable, Volunteer, Work Study |
On campus, Remote |
January 8, 2025 |
| Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Cyber-Physical Systems |
We apply state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, including deep learning and reinforcement learning, to solve challenging and impactful computational problems in complex cyber-physical systems, such as transportation and power systems, focusing on sequential decision-making under uncertainty and combinatorial optimization. |
Engineering, Information Technology and Computer Science |
Credit, Volunteer |
On campus, Remote |
July 26, 2024 |
| Neuroscience research opportunities |
We are neuroscientists interested in understanding what happens in the brain during sleep and how fluid (blood, cerebrospinal fluid) flow is controlled in the brain. We use microscopy, imaging, electrophysiology, and molecular biology techniques in rodent models. More information on our research can be found here: Drew-lab |
Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Statistics |
Credit |
On campus |
June 3, 2024 |
| Organic Chemistry |
In my lab we explore the synthesis and reactivity of novel heterocyclic compounds, which collaborators of ours screen for useful biological activity, such as against dangerous parasites. |
Physical Sciences |
Variable |
On campus |
March 30, 2024 |
| Natural history collections - insects, arachnids |
The Frost Entomological Museum holds more than 1.3 million specimens of insects, spiders, mites, and related arthropods. These specimens are used in education, outreach, and research. There is an ongoing project to digitize these specimens -- i.e., transcribing and parsing their label data and/or imaging the specimens -- in order to make their data more accessible for research. Specimens sometimes also require repair (i.e., specimen conservation) and transition to new, archival storage. Altogether, these activities offer students opportunities to learn about natural history collection management, collections-based research, biodiversity informatics, museum ethics, and approaches for effective engagement and interpretation. Examples of past... |
Agricultural Sciences, Life Sciences |
Credit, Volunteer |
On campus |
March 5, 2024 |
| Human impact on pollinator abundance and plant reproduction |
Pollinators play a hugely important role in both natural and human-controlled environments. Unfortunately, there are some indications that pollinator numbers are declining. This data comes primarily from honeybee populations, which are well studied due to their economic impact and ease of data collection. Less well studied are the native pollinators. These pollinators are more diffcult to study, leacing us without adequate information about the scope and severity of pollinator declines. I use Brassica rapa (called fast plants) to quickly and comparably measure pollintor abundance to answer a variety of questions including: are pollinators declining? are certain types of pollinators more at risk? what environmental factors affect the rate of decline? what are the effects of... |
Agricultural Sciences, Environmental and Geosciences, Life Sciences |
Credit, Volunteer |
On campus, Remote |
February 1, 2024 |
| Genetic basis of plant traits |
For many important biological questions, an important step is often to determine the gene(s) involved in a particular trait. My research focuses on determining the genetic basis of herbicide resistance in weeds. By understanding which genes are involved we can better understand the evolutionary past and future of this trait, which impacts our food supply. The same methods I use in my research can be applied to many other traits that you may be interested in. Given that genetic data is often publically available, identifying genes of interest for a particular trait can be done in the comfort of your own home! The goal of this project is to give you hands on practice at bioinformatic techniques and interpretation. |
Agricultural Sciences, Information Technology and Computer Science, Life Sciences |
Credit, Volunteer |
On campus, Remote |
February 1, 2024 |
| The Human-Food Interface (Hopfer Research Lab) |
My group is interested in the human-food interface, and how food composition and structure affects human perception and food choice, particularly aroma and flavor. We combine human sensory and consumer science with analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and multivariate statistics, to elucidate the impact of production, processing, storage, and presentation on perception. We are also interested in improving flavor of fruits and vegetables by linking sensory science to the breeding process more effectively. We apply these methods also to non-food samples. Interested students usually start working alongside a graduate student to gain the necessary skills, before they develop their own research projects. |
Agricultural Sciences |
Credit, Variable, Volunteer |
On campus |
January 8, 2024 |