Highlighting Undergraduate Research

Dartmouth Undergraduate Research Association (DURA)

DURA is a student group focused on promoting, highlighting, and creating infrastructure around undergraduate research opportunities on campus.

Join DURA to earn more about undergraduate research and connect with other students engaged in undergraduate research. Log on to Dartmouth Groups and search for DURA to join.

Undergraduate Research Week

SURFD launched Dartmouth's first Undergraduate Research Week in 2026. The celebration will be held annually in April to coincide with the Council on Undergraduate's (CUR) Undergraduate Research Week. Events highlighting undergraduate research at Dartmouth are held throughout the week. The schedule for 2026 included:

  • Tabling in Novack: "guess that researcher" game plus a note-writing station for students to send thank you notes to faculty research mentors
  • Research coffeehouses
  • Open mic research presentations
  • Selfie scavenger hunt: science locations across campus
  • MAD research video award presentation and viewing party

Wetterhahn Science Symposium

The annual Karen E. Wetterhahn Science Symposium celebrates undergraduate research in the sciences with a keynote address and an undergraduate research poster session. The symposium is held in May and is open to anyone in the College and local communities. All undergraduates engaged in faculty mentored research at the College are encouraged to present a poster.

MAD Research: Video Competition

MAD (Made At Dartmouth) Research is an annual video competition that gives students the opportunity to communicate their research to a broader audience.

Enter to win cash prizes! The competition is sponsored by SURFD and the Jones Media Center.

Undergraduate Research Across Campus

Undergraduates at Dartmouth conduct faculty-mentored research in all academic disciplines, across the college and professional schools. Their creative and scholarly achievements are highlighted in multiple ways, including:

  • Honors thesis presentations (see academic department and program webpages for information and schedules)
  • Studio Art Senior Majors Exhibition
  • Film & Media Studies Senior Showcase
  • Arts at Dartmouth Awards

National Collegiate Research Conference

The National Collegiate Research Conference (NCRC) is a large-scale, multidisciplinary forum held annually at Harvard University, where the most accomplished undergraduate students from across the United States and internationally convene each year to share their research in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.  The core vision behind our conference is to provide student researchers with the opportunity to hear from the world's leading authorities in academia, policy, and industry, as well as to foster important exchanges and dialogue between students. Last year, after being selected through a competitive application process, over 300 participants from nearly 100 universities across America and abroad attended our conference. Through NCRC, we hope to expand the perspective of undergraduate researchers through offering exposure to diverse fields and to facilitate the discourse on collaboration, leadership, and social impact in research that we believe will be invaluable in future pursuits.