Research Opportunities for Undergraduates

Year Long Research Opportunities

• CS Student Ambassador/Research Scholars (CS STARS) - A CS department program designed for University of Illinois undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing research while also serving as departmental leaders and community builders.
• Illinois Scholars Undergraduate Research (ISUR) Program - A college of engineering wide program. ISUR includes multiple components, from a research focused seminar to a number of paid undergraduate research programs. ISUR programs follow an apprenticeship model, where students work closely with faculty mentors. Some distinct programs supported by ISUR include:
  
  • Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholars - An ISUR affiliated program to support women undergraduates in research and teaching in science, mathematics, and engineering. Eight scholars are selected and funded each year.
  • C3SR-Undergraduate Research in Artificial Intelligence - An IBM-ILLINOIS and ISUR partnership which funds undergraduate research on AI and cognitive computing, from theory to practical application. Students additionally worked with a C3SR faculty mentor.
• The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) SPIN - An academic year long internship program where Illinois undergraduate students get to participate in high-impact work in the fields of supercomputing, visualization, data analytics, and other similar fields. Pay covers 5 hours a week toward exciting research opportunities.

Semester Long Research Opportunities

• CS Job Portal - Our department's employment opportunities include course assistant and undergraduate research positions.
• PURE - Promoting Undergraduate Research in Engineering is a semester long , student-run research program where freshmen and sophomore students are connected with graduate student mentors to get an early jump-start in their research career. 

Summer Research Opportunities

• DaRin Butz Research Scholars - An ISUR-affliated program which offers undergraduate women funding for a 10 week summer research program. The program uses a learning-by-apprenticeship model for high impact work in computer science, aerospace, engineering, physics, or astronomy.
• The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) INCLUSION program - INCLUSION is a 10 week program for applicants from underrepresented communities to work in pairs with mentors on research aimed towards social impact. All work is based around open source software development.
• Summer Research Program for Undergraduates (SRP) - In the SRP, students work on high impact research with university faculty while also attending professional development programming aimed at helping students become stronger researchers and strong candidates for graduate school.
• Mind in Vitro Undergraduate Summer Research Program -  Undergraduate students in the program will work with faculty mentors and graduate students on topics related to the Mind in Vitro Expeditions in Computing Project.  Students will participate in Illinois summer research program activities including networking and social events, weekly lunch and learn seminars covering topics such as research skills, presentation skills, information about graduate school, including applications, career opportunities, etc.

Mentorship Opportunities

• Mentoring Undergraduates in Science and Engineering (MUSE)  - A mentoring program for The Grainger College of Engineering. Undergraduates may apply to be mentored for a range of reasons, such as career development or research and thesis guidance.

Showcase Opportunities

• Engineering Research Fair - A research fair hosted by the College of Engineering every semester. The goal of this fair is for researchers to share their work, labs and companies to recruit researchers, and continue to inspire future generations of excellent research at Illinois.
• Undergraduate Research Symposium - A campus wide research symposium for undergraduate researchers to present the results of their research endeavors and gain valuable experience presenting work to a wide audience. Typically held in the late Spring.