Mentored Research 

Get Started!

1. Start early in your degree - maybe in your sophomore or junior year (many faculty will not bring on seniors into their research labs).
2. Carefully study the faculty research members and their research areas. Click on the different links to explore the different professors and their research interests. 
3. Choose a few faculty members whose research seems most appealing to you.
4. Be proactive in investing time in studying the faculty’s research, journal articles, etc., and be prepared to ask questions and comment on his/her research.
5. Contact the faculty member via email for more information about opportunities in thier lab and schedule a time to meet them. If they don't respond to an email/phone call, drop by their office!
6. Many times, you will begin as a volunteer until you have gained enough experience to merit credit/pay.
7. Once you have sufficient experience, you will be eligible for research credit (494R), for every 1 credit you wish to earn please plan on spending at least 3 hours per week. You also can work towards funding for research projects (for example: URSCA, TEELS, etc. and SAC)

Alternatives to an independent research position

Unfortunately, there are often more students looking for independent research positions than faculty can support. To provide more opportunities for students to gain research experience the department has a variety of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). Students enrolled in these courses conduct inquiry-based research projects during class and have an opportunity to present their research at the end of the semester. If you are interested in participating in a CURE you should register for one of the following courses.

      Biology Department CUREs 

• BIOL 3200 Guided Research Experience | Offered Fall and Spring
• BIOL 3515 Advanced Genetics Lab | Offered Fall and Spring
• BIOL 4300 Bioinformatics and Genome Analysis | Offered Fall Odd
• BOT 2050 Field Botany | Offered 
• BOT 2100 Flora of Utah | Offered
• BOT/MICR 3500 Mycology | Offered Fall and Spring
• BOT 4200 Plant Systematics | Offered Spring Even
• MICR 3150 Microbial Ecology | Offered Fall Odd
• MICR 3650 Microbial Genetics | Offered Spring
• MICR 4300 Pathogenic Microbiology | Offered Fall Odd
• MICR 4505 Applied Virological Methods | Offered Fall Odd