UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

We highly encourage the active participation of undergraduates in our research activities. Research is a wonderful learning experience that will benefit students who are interested in graduate school, industry and medical school. We highly encourage research for students interested in graduate  school.

BENEFITS for UG researchers:

  • open-ended, problem-solving learning experience

  • class credit toward your degree without exams and HW

  • research is a must for students interested in graduate school, and helps tremendously for students applying to medical school (students with research experience are usually more competitive)

  • stronger letters of recommendation than from standard classroom experience

  • practice with communication skills

  • one-on-one mentoring experience with graduate student and faculty

  • part of a team

  • our research will eventually lead to therapies for people with nerve injuries

  • research is fun!

Because of the nature of our biological research, students usually require at least one semester for training. Thus, we request that a student commit at least one year (two semesters) of time to research in our laboratory (more is great). However, if the student decides that this research is not suitable for him/her, then we obviously would not hold that person to our one year requested commitment.

POLICIES for all students doing undergraduate research in our laboratory are:

  • students are asked to commit at least two continuous semesters to research (research for only one semester is not beneficial to the UG or the grad mentor)

  • students must go through training and safety orientation with our Lab Manager (Hyma Durgam) BEFORE doing research in the lab

  • students are encouraged to do research  for class credit (BME 377, CHE 377K or equivalent)
  • students must give an oral presentation to the research group at the end of the semester
  • students must prepare a written report or poster (but not both)
  • students will typically be paired with a graduate student mentor
  • graduate student mentors will help assign the grades for class credit (grades are also based on your oral presentation and report or poster)
  • we do not pay students for research except under highly unusual circumstances or when students perform technician-level duties (e.g., dishwashing) that are not normally considered "research"
  • students are encouraged to apply for an Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) to help fund their projects (money can also be used for travel to a meeting to present research): http://www.utexas.edu/research/vp/awards/

If you are interested in becoming a part of our team and doing exciting biomedical and tissue engineering research, then you should directly contact the graduate student(s) whose research most interests you.

If a graduate student is interested in mentoring an undergraduate student, then you will be asked to come into the lab for an interview, at which time you will need to provide a resume for our files. Decisions regarding undergraduate student hiring are left up to the graduate students, with approval by Dr. Schmidt.