Undergraduate research allows you to:
- Engage deeply with a subject or topic of interest
- Help solve some of society’s most pressing problems
- Build relationships with faculty
- Improve your communication, critical-thinking and problem solving skills
- Prepare for graduate or professional school
- Increase your chances of winning a fellowship to support your graduate education
- Earn money while being productively engaged
If these reasons aren’t enough, you should be aware that a recent survey of employers showed that the skills you gain by participating in research are highly valued in the workplace. Specifically, employers endorse educational practices that require students to conduct “research and use evidence-based analysis.”