Conducting top-tier undergraduate research at Michigan Tech gives you an opportunity not only to work alongside professors, but to develop skills that set you apart. Whether you’re looking to continue your studies in graduate school, medical school, or are just fascinated by learning at a different level, there’s a research opportunity here for you. We pay students for 91,000+ hours of research every year.
As an R1 research institution, there are many opportunities for student researchers to present their work at Tech's annual Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium, at national conferences, and publish articles in peer-review journals before graduating. Real research adds real value.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Many students find research opportunities by connecting with a favorite professor. You can also participate in our Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). SURF provides annual awards of up to $4,000 to undergraduate students who conduct a research project under the guidance of a Michigan Tech faculty mentor during the summer semester.
Take Tessa, a biochemistry and molecular biology graduate, whose work focused on the "heroes of genetics". Biologists use fruit flies to study wing spots, metabolism, and aging. That matters because the same genes and major metabolic pathways in fruit flies affect cancer and other diseases in humans.
Undergraduate Research Projects
Here are examples of projects Michigan Tech students work on:
- Applied geophysics: Seismic Amplitude-based Lahar Tracking for Real-time Hazard Assessment
- Anthropology: Commercialization of Indigenous Representation in Plant-Based Memorials
- Biological sciences: Trophic ecology of Gulf Coast canids: Influence of anthropogenic sources on dietary
niche breadth - Biomedical engineering: A Hemodynamic Comparative Analysis of Ectasia and Aneurysms in Kawasaki Disease
- Wildlife management and ecology: Assessing Mammalian Assemblages Along Senegal's Largest Artisanal Gold Mine
- Electrical engineering: Real-time Monitoring of Bone Healing Through Wireless Detection of Stress on the Fixation Plate
- Environmental engineering: Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Inland Lakes: Lake Acidification and Clams
- Forestry: Spatial patterning and growth of naturally regenerated eastern white pine in a northern hardwood silviculture experiment
- Human biology: Biopsychosocial predictors of return to sport and secondary ACL injury: a systematic review with meta-analysis
- Human factors: How personality traits relate to recognition of subtle bias in STEM
- Mathematics and computer science: A Self-auditing Protocol for Decentralized Cloud Storage via Trusted Hardware
Components - Mechanical engineering: Mimicking the Dynamics of the Mammalian Cochlea: Kalimba-Inspired Bio-Devices with
Novel Frequency Selectivity - Medicinal chemistry: Using a New Approach to Mosher Ester Analysis to Determine the Absolute Stereochemistry of Secondary Alcohols
- Mining engineering: Application of Machine Learning to Predict Underground Fire Location
- Physics: Using Advanced Computing Techniques to Simulate the Universe with Neutrinos
- Scientific and technical communication: Public Tourism Infrastructure and Accessibility: Comparison of Metropolitan, Micropolitan, and Rural Structures
- Sustainability science and society: Economic Impact Analysis of Sustainable Fishery Production Increases in Michigan
