Research Opportunities
The Department of Neuroscience encourages interested undergraduate majors to gain research experience within an active neuroscience laboratory. Most undergraduates who enroll in research for credit are interested in completing an independent project that results in an undergraduate thesis.
Finding a lab
- Identify the specific areas of neuroscience that are of greatest interest to you.
- Access the Center for Neuroscience website and look for labs that conduct research in your area of interest.
- Attend natural sciences club meetings and talk to fellow students and presenters.
- Visit the Experiential Learning Office located in B-4 THAW Hall.
- Register with Career Services in 224 WPU to access the internship listings.
- Talk with your instructors.
- For additional information click here.
After you identify area(s) of interest
- Read the research descriptions of the faculty labs you have identified as most interesting. Look over a few of the journal articles they have published, paying particular attention to the “methods” section. Are these the kinds of experiments you can imagine yourself doing?
- Contact the primary investigators and ask if there are openings in their labs. Explain specifically why you are interested in their research area.
Once you find an open lab position
- Students sometimes perform lab research without course credit. However, the Department still needs to have a record of your project and your faculty sponsor. Please fill out the Non-Credit Research Form (see link at right) and have it approved by the Department of Neuroscience.
- If you would like to receive course credit for your work, you need to obtain the permission of the sponsoring faculty member and register for NROSCI 1901 (Independent Study) or 1961 (Thesis Research). Students typically begin by registering for 1901. If your early work is successful, and if the faculty sponsor agrees, you can then progress to thesis research.
- Determine how much time you have during the week to devote to lab work. This will determine the number of research credits you can register for (4 to 5 hours per week per credit).
- Complete an Independent Study Research Form (see link at right) with your faculty mentor and have it approved by the Department of Neuroscience.
Neuroscience Undergraduate Research Courses:
NROSCI 1901, Independent Study
This course is intended as the first research experience in a laboratory. Students typically immerse themselves in the research that is ongoing in the laboratory, attend laboratory meetings, meet frequently with the faculty mentor to discuss research and acquire skills necessary for doing original research in the laboratory. If the student decides to continue research and do a thesis, the student will begin to focus on the hypotheses he wants to investigate and begin designing the requisite experiments. Of course, this is all done in close collaboration with the faculty mentor and is usually an integral part of, or a related tangent, from the mentor’s current research focus.
NROSCI 1961, Thesis Research
Students enroll in this course if they plan to continue research that culminates in a thesis. Students perform the experiments that will form the basis of the thesis; attend lab meetings and have regular meetings with their faculty mentor. This course is typically taken for at least two terms, although the length depends on the specific project.
NROSCI 1962, Thesis Writing Practicum
This course will fulfill the departmental writing course requirement. The student is usually enrolled concurrently in NROSCI 1961 and has collected the majority of the data needed to write the thesis. The student will need to complete a Thesis Writing Practicum Agreement to register for this course. The student will also need to select a committee composed of the faculty mentor and at least one other faculty member to act as a thesis reader. One member of the committee must be a primary faculty member from the Department of Neuroscience.
Contact the Undergraduate Advising Office at 412-624-5156 to register for research courses.
The Undergraduate Research Fair
Established in 1991 following a donation to the University Honors College from Teachers for an Independent Faculty, is run as a poster session. This is a kind of open house where participants display posters describing their research. Presenters use any format and any additional materials necessary to convey their ideas. No formal talk to a large group is involved. Instead, the audience walks from poster to poster, reading the posters and discussing points of curiosity with the presenters.
The 22nd annual Undergraduate Research Fair will take place on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, in the Ballroom, Assembly Room, and Kurtzman Room of the William Pitt Union from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.; refreshments will be served.
Students who participate have found that they clarify their own thinking in preparing a visual presentation of their work for an audience of nonspecialists. In addition, the discussion that can develop with the audience, as well as with other participants, can be challenging and stimulating.
Students in all undergraduate divisions and majors are encouraged to participate.
Application Information
Abstract submission deadline:
March 16, 2012
Download the application form (Word)
Faculty members
Please encourage undergraduate students who have done research with you to submit abstracts for the fair.
Undergraduates
Start planning now to participate in the fair.
Fellowship Opportunities
CCNMD Undergraduate Research Fellowship
The National Institute of Mental Health Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders (CCNMD) Undergraduate Research Fellowship provides highly talented undergraduate students with early-career, hands-on engagement in cutting edge neuroscience research. Research opportunities focus on schizophrenia and related disorders, and the neurobiological systems behind these illnesses
Fellows begin the program during the summer following the freshman or sophomore year with a full-time, 10-week research experience supported by a $4,000 stipend.
Full details of the program and application information can be found on the CCNMD Undergraduate Research Fellowship website.
Application deadline: February 3, 2012 for the 2012 Summer Fellowship.
Brackenridge Undergraduate Fellowship
This fellowship is named for the founder of the University of Pittsburgh, Hugh Henry Brackenridge. It supports University of Pittsburgh undergraduates conducting independent research projects and a roundtable discussion of progress in a weekly seminar in the summer months. Students also are encouraged to participate in informal workshops, typically initiated by the fellows themselves, which allow the fellows to further discuss their research projects.
All participants receive a stipend of $3,500 to assure their freedom from employment, so that major commitments to seminar responsibilities in the summer can be assured. The fellowship is open to undergraduates from any field and any class, including freshmen as well as seniors.
Application Deadline: March 5, 2010
Chancellors Undergraduate Research Fellowships
The Chancellor's Undergraduate Research Fellowship is intended to support student involvement in independent research under the direction of a faculty mentor. Ten $600 fellowships, administered by the University Honors College (UHC), are offered to encourage the enrichment of the students' experience in defining objectives and selecting methodologies appropriate to original research in their chosen field of study. The fellowships are available for one term, either fall or spring.
Deadlines
- October 31 for the following spring term
- April 15 for the following fall term
Chancellors Undergraduate Teaching Fellowships
Ten $600 undergraduate teaching fellowships, awarded for joint student-faculty teaching projects and administered by the University Honors College (UHC), are available for the coming spring term.
These fellowships are offered to encourage the enrichment of course offerings and to improve teaching through the collaboration of faculty members with students in the planning and implementation of creative teaching projects. The fellowships are available for one term, either fall or spring.
Deadlines
- October 31 for the following spring term
- April 15 for the following fall term
