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.
Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive database of all the research opportunities available at Penn State. Please visit our Finding an Opportunity at Penn State section for other ideas for finding a research opportunity!
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Child Health Study |
Study Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to learn more about the different ways in which the environment and biology can affect a person’s health over their lifetime. Children beginning at the age of 8 along with one of their caregivers spends a day visiting The Center for Healthy Children at Penn State to help us learn about their different life experiences and environments and how these shapes human development. The information we gather during these visits will help us achieve our long-range goal of understanding more about children, adolescents, and their families to improve health outcomes. Research Assistant Benefits:
|
Communications and Journalism, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Credit, Variable, Volunteer, Work Study |
On campus |
September 23, 2025 |
| Confederate Research Judge |
Looking for experience working with children in the community while gaining research experience? Join us at the CaRES Lab!The Coping and Regulation of Environmental Stress (CaRES) Lab, headed by Dr. Martha Wadsworth, is looking for volunteer confederate research judges to help with our Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) research study. BaSICS is a new intervention developed by the CaRES Lab for children and adolescents facing chronic stress. For children and adolescents, certain types of stress – such as stress due to discrimination or family money problems – are especially harmful because children have little control over these problems. Fortunately, children can learn tools to help them manage stress. The BaSICS Program seeks... |
Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Volunteer |
Remote |
September 16, 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 |
September 4, 2025 |
| Semiflexible Conjugated Polymers |
Conjugated polymers find uses in flexible electronic devices, such as solar cells. This class of polymer has chains that are naturally more rigid than standard flexible-chain polymers. Rigidity means that the polymers entangle more easily but also crystallize and perhaps form nematic phases above their melting point. Together with Professor Enrique Gomez in Chemical Engineering, we aim to develop a better fundamental understanding of semiflexible conjugated polymers, using a combination of polymer physics and experiments. |
Physical Sciences |
Variable |
Hybrid |
August 30, 2025 |
| Polyelectrolyte Solution Rheology |
Chemists who synthesize ion-containing polymers must grapple with a severe hindrance – that of accurately measuring the molecular weight of their products. The lack of generally effective methods for determining this fundamental quantity retards research on ionic polymers, which find uses in water purification, energy conversion and storage, massive industrial scale electrolysis and other molecular separations. We are developing four methods that utilize easily measured dynamic properties of semidilute unentangled solutions of ionic polymers to obtain the number-average molecular weight Mn. Each method relies on specific combinations of calibrated measurements so that each method directly determines the number density of chains in solution and thus Mn. ... |
Engineering |
Volunteer |
On campus |
August 30, 2025 |
| Polyvinylalcohol Solution Rheology in collaboration with Proctor & Gamble |
Proctor & Gamble uses poly(vinyl alcohol) for the casings of pods that hold laundry and dishwasher detergents. This polymer is good at hydrogen bonding and forms associating polymer solutions in water, which imparts interesting rheology (flow properties). Various other additives such as salts and surfactants can enhance the association effects in interesting ways. Adding hydrogen bond accepting molecules like dimethylsulfoxide or tetramethyl urea and lower the viscosity by preventing assoications. Our group studies aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solution rheology and the phase boundaries of these solutions. The best undergraduates involved get the opportunity to do summer or coop internships at Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati. |
Engineering |
Volunteer |
On campus |
August 30, 2025 |
| Flow-induced crystallization of polymers |
Semi-crystalline polymers are a very important class of engineering thermoplastic. When subjected to flow, the polymer chains get stretched and crystallize more readily. We try to understand this flow-induced crystallization using AFM, calorimetry, optical microscopy, rheology and X-ray scattering experiments. Ongoing polymer crystallization projects include polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(ethylene oxide), poly(ether ether ketone), and polyamides. |
Engineering |
Volunteer |
On campus |
August 30, 2025 |
| Pennsylvania Gambling Survey |
The Survey Research Center is collecting data for the Pennsylvania Interactive, Online Gaming Annual Study, a state-wide study to assess impacts of online gambling in Pennsylvania. The study is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. It has been designed to provide accurate, reliable, and representative data on Pennsylvanians' gambling. Residents across Pennsylvania (PA) have an equal chance of being selected to participate in this telephone survey that allows participants to share their experiences with online gambling. The project incorporates yearly data collection and includes an annual report of the findings. Since PA recently legalized online gaming, we are in a unique position to measure engagement and the impacts. This evidence will guide... |
Any, Business, Communications and Journalism, Humanities, International Relations, Political Science, and Law, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Paid |
On campus |
August 21, 2025 |
| The Role of Cognitive and Mathematical Structures in Problem Solving Process |
Our research group is interested in studying the cognitive role of mathematical aesthetics and strategic choices of problem solving solution methods and the relational role of item discrimination and difficulty. We examine how problem solvers’ behavior might be affected or altered by elementary modifications of problem structures. This research position is open to undergraduate and graduate students. |
Education, Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Statistics |
Paid, Volunteer, Work Study |
Hybrid, On campus, Remote |
August 4, 2025 |
| Sustainable Materials Laboratory Manager Assistant |
Research Motivation: The urgent demand for sustainable materials has never been greater. The building and construction sector is responsible for 37% of global process-related CO2 emissions and consumes over half of the resources extracted annually [1]. A major contributor to these impacts is concrete production. In the United States alone, we use over 120 million tons of cement [2] and 1.9 billion tons of aggregates [3] each year; resulting in ~95... |
Engineering |
Variable |
On campus |
August 1, 2025 |