Welcome to UC San Diego’s undergraduate research portal, the entry point for all students in all disciplines who wish to explore the rewards and challenges of participating in undergraduate research.
Guide to Undergraduate Research
Overview
What is undergraduate research? Why is it valuable to you as an undergraduate?
Self-Assessment
How to take stock before committing to a research project.
Projects: getting started
How to get an undergraduate research project off the ground.
End Results
How undertaking a research project can help you in the long run.
Ready to get started? Visit our Opportunities page.
Faculty on Research
This is a public research university with big classes, lots of competition and a huge opportunity for undergraduates: to work with cutting-edge researchers who invent the future. If you don’t try to get involved in research, you are missing out on one of the key reasons for being here.
Gabriele Wienhausen—Associate Dean of Biological Sciences
Research Calendar
News
Watch How Undegraduates at the University of California Get Hands-On Experience in Exciting Research Projects
View this multimedia presentation to watch students engaged in developing a better space toilet for NASA astronauts, studying song birds to learn more about autism and finding a better way to measure beer foam for the brewing industry.
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Physics of Surfing
Students who take UC San Diego’s Physics of Surfing class get to go to the beach, ride a board into the waves and see how physics works in the real world. Back in the classroom, they learn about how waves form and travel through the world’s oceans and how surfboards follow the laws of fluid mechanics.