Undergraduate Research
What is the URMI?
The Undergraduate Research Mentorship Initiative (URMI) is a
program developed by Dr. Deborah H. Holdstein, Dean of the School of Liberal
Arts and Sciences, to connect talented students who are interested in the experience
of conducting academic research with faculty mentors involved in worthy
scholarly and research projects in their areas of expertise. Students in any
major at Columbia are encouraged to seek out an URMI in LAS in a field
different from theirs as a way to broaden their academic perspectives and
deepen their ability to conduct research.
What is the benefit
of conducting research with members of the faculty?
The URMI gives Columbia's undergraduate students the
opportunity to gain real-world experience and learn research and scholarly
techniques from practitioners in academic and integrative disciplines based in
the Liberal Arts and Sciences. Even in a discipline different from your major
at Columbia, the experience enhances your credentials as you enter professional
fields or pursue higher academic degrees. Students also earn up to 3 credit hours per semester for their participation.
What kinds of
research have other students conducted through URMI?
Since the URMI launched in 2008, students have conducted
research in such fields as Women and Modernism, Attitudes Toward Sex in the New
Millennium, Interpreting in Religious Settings, and Models of Relativistic Gas,
among many others.
Sounds great! How do
I apply?
Click here for information on how to apply. If your instructor has mentioned his or her interest in
mentoring a student through the URMI, work with him or her to prepare your proposal,
which the instructor will submit to the LAS Dean's Office by a specified date.
If you'd like to apply but do not know an instructor who is interested in
participating in the URMI, please contact Andrew
Whatley, Assistant Dean for Faculty Advising and LAS
Initiatives, at 312.369.7261 or awhatley@colum.edu. He
will attempt to match you with an instructor.
Faculty members:
For more information about URMI, please download this informational PDF.
Students:
For more information about URMI, please download this informational PDF.
