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Undergraduate research programs

General information

SURFD administers programs that provide funding for Dartmouth undergraduates to engage in faculty-mentored research.

  • Mentors must be employed by and have a faculty appointment at Dartmouth
  • Research experiences must contribute to the student's academic development.
  • The following types of projects are NOT eligible for funding: 
    • Administrative or clerical: tasks typically compensated via wages such as maintenance of a website, editing of a publication, scheduling research participants, etc.
    • Curricular: development and/or assessment of course materials
    • Commercial: tasks related to development of a commercial product
    • Institutional: tasks related to strategic direction of an institutional initiative

Undergraduate research program summaries

Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth (URAD): part-time research while taking classes

  • Applications are accepted each term for research in the following term.
  • Students submit an application form and faculty endorse the application.
  • Students must derive a clear academic benefit from the research. These experiences are considered to be the equivalent of an academic class in terms of time commitment and learning outcomes.
  • Students must be on campus throughout the research term, and that is also the expectation for faculty mentors.

James O. Freedman Presidential Scholars: two-terms of part-time research during junior year while students are on campus and enrolled in classes

  • Eligibility is based on GPA and applications are only accepted in the spring.
  • Students submit an application form and faculty endorse the application.
  • The program is intended to prepare students for honors thesis research, and the relationship of the research experience to the student's major is considered in the selection process.
  • Faculty mentors must be eligible to be primary advisors for student honors theses in their academic department or program. In most cases, this includes faculty with the following appointment types: tenure-line, research track or lecturer/senior lecturer.

Leave-Term Research Grants: full-time research during a leave term

  • Students must be intellectually engaged and play a key role in the project. Students who are starting out in research or serving primarily as research assistants are not eligible.
  • Students submit an application and written proposal, and faculty submit a recommendation. That recommendation is a key part of the selection process.
  • The research may be on or off campus, but there must be a rationale for the location of the research (e.g. working directly with the faculty mentor on campus; engaging in field research off campus)

Conference Travel Grants: funding for students to present their faculty-mentore research at an academic conference or meeting.

  • The research must have been conducted in collaboration with or under the supervision of a Dartmouth faculty member (college or professional school faculty).
  • The presentation can be a talk, poster, or other format, and the student can be an individual author or one of multiple authors on the project.

Honors Thesis Research Grants: funding for expenses directly related to honors thesis research

  • Most honors thesis awards will be between $500 and $1500.
  • Thesis grants are intended to supplement other funding sources (including funding available through departments and programs). Students are required to apply for all other potential sources of funding to be eligible for honors thesis grants.