Undergraduate Research Opportunities

International Research for Undergraduates

The University of Pittsburgh takes pride in encouraging undergraduate involvement in original research.

European and Eurasian Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Undergraduate Research Symposium is a conference designed to provide undergraduate students from Pitt and the region’s other colleges and universities with advanced research experiences and opportunities to develop presentation skills. The event is open to undergraduates from all majors and institutions who have written a research paper from a social science, humanities, or business perspective focusing on the study of Eastern, Western, or Central Europe, the European Union, Russia, or other countries of the former Soviet Union. The Symposium is held at the University of Pittsburgh-Oakland campus. For more information, contact Susan Dawkins, sad96@pitt.edu.

CERIS Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS), a 30-member grouping in Pittsburgh’s tri-state area, hosts a student research symposium every spring. Students submit abstracts and, if accepted by a faculty screening committee, are invited to present their research organized around themes where faculty and students provide feedback during a facilitated discussion. In addition to the presentations and discussion, the event includes a luncheon and keynote. Select papers are also published on the CERIS Web site. For more information, visit www.cerisnet.org or contact Elaine Linn, EEL58@pitt.edu.

Latin American Seminar and Field Trip

Each year, the Center for Latin American Studies sponsors a seminar followed by a six-week field trip to Latin America. The CLAS Undergraduate Seminar/Field Trip involves a preparatory seminar on the country to be visited, followed by a six-week field trip to that country.

CLAS subsidizes the cost of the trip to place it within the means of virtually all students. Student participants register for a seminar in the spring term (January-April) to prepare themselves for the field trip through study of the culture, economics, geography, history, and politics of the area to be visited.

Students also are introduced to research methodology and are guided through the development of a project, which forms the basis for research they conduct while in the field. In the summer session (mid-May through mid-June), the students travel to Latin America where they reside with host families and undertake their research projects under the direction of a CLAS faculty member. For more information, visit the CLAS website.

More Research Opportunities

For the latest on opportunities for research and funding open to Pitt undergraduate students, visit the Pitt Global Hub or schedule an appointment with an advisor.