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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Bird Safe Penn State |
Evidence suggests that overall, bird populations have been steadily declining for the past half century, with nearly 1/3 of the total North American bird population being lost since the late 1960s. The causes of these billions of bird deaths and reproductive failures are mostly indirect, related to habitat loss and habitat change, but there are also direct causes of mortality that are close to home and solvable. Researchers agree that the two dominant causes of direct anthropogenic bird mortality are outdoor cats and window collisions. Both of these are issues on Penn State campus. Together with Krista Bailey, PSU's Sustainable Campus Strategist, and a past undergraduate student who is know a graduate student, Chyvonne Jessick, we started an OPP Living Labs... |
Any |
Credit |
Community-based, Hybrid, On campus, Remote |
October 5, 2023 |