Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate Research
Help a professor research a book or paper.
Research the robotics revolution … Study ancient cures for insights into modern diseases … Analyze the films of a Hollywood legend … The College of General Studies gives students a unique opportunity to partner with faculty on research projects as early as your first year of college.
Could history be the key to defeating superbugs?
Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in the medical community. Adam Lazarchik (CGS’18, SAR’20) and Elizabeth Guerrero (CGS’18, ENG’20) are student researchers working with College of General Studies Professor Sandra Buerger to investigate historical cures for diseases.
WatchI am really passionate about doing research so that I can add information to the world...and CGS has been great for offering me a really well-rounded education.
Adam Lazarchik (CGS'18, SAR'20)
Women Writers, Food, and Wartime
When a computer engineering student and an English major help a rhetoric professor with a book about British women writers, you’re seeing the interdisciplinary synergy of undergraduate research.
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Was A Christmas Carol inspired by a trip to Massachusetts?
A CGS undergraduate research project finds an unlikely source of inspiration for Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol– the stories of the “mill girls” in Lowell, Mass. Read the story in The Boston Globe.
CGS researchers put probiotics to the test
Do probiotic supplements actually contain what the labels promise? CGS Lecturer Sandra Buerger and CGS undergraduate researchers Alexander Smith (CGS’17, CAS’19) and (Yemi Osayame, CGS’17, CAS ’19) set out to find out.
Technological unemployment, robot love, and AI
With the assistance of undergraduate researcher Sofia Zalaquett (CGS’19, CAS’21), CGS Lecturer Joelle Renstrom is writing a book that will dive into topics such as technological unemployment, love and sex with robots, and artist robots.
How climate change impacts global democracy
CGS Social Sciences Lecturer R. Sam Deese wrote a book that tackles philosophical and political questions around climate change. CGS student Morgan Ashurian (CGS’17, CAS’19) provided some valuable research help along the way.
From Virginia Woolf to the cognition of comics
Could doodling make you a better listener? Did all of Queen Victoria’s subjects agree with her view that women’s rights were a “wicked folly”? CGS undergraduates are conducting compelling studies and helping solve weighty problems.
A student studies the antibiotics in our water
Corliss Kanazawa (CGS’16, SAR’18) scrutinized Hall’s Pond’s tiniest residents—the bacteria—to learn how antibiotics may alter the ecology of our water.
Analyzing the groundbreaking films of King Vidor
King Vidor directed some of the boundary-breaking films of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Luke Bonzani (CGS’18, COM’20, CAS’20) combed through dozens of Vidor’s interviews and articles for quotes on the craft of filmmaking.
Looking at first wives and marriage in Victorian novels
Reading sensational Victorian stories–about hallucinations, curses, and jiltings–is part of the job for CGS undergraduate researcher Kerry Sadlier (CGS’17, COM’19).
Fighting segregation with song: A 9000-mile research journey
From “We Shall Overcome” to “Blowin’ in the Wind,” the “freedom songs” of the civil rights movement helped motivate people of all ages and races. Cheryl Boots (GRS’94,’00, STH’14) embarked on a 9,000-mile journey to find out how.
Researching UN peacekeeping and how Americans perceived it
Santana worked with CGS Senior Lecturer Michael Holm to research how Americans perceived the United Nations and its peacekeeping operations in the aftermath of the Cold War. After sifting through almost a decade of material from media, intellectual journals, and Congressional debates, Santana says, “I learned so much about how to manage my time appropriately and how to find and make use of research databases. This experience really expanded my worldview and allowed me to develop critical skills I will be able to apply and use in the future.”
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Learn about undergraduate research options.
Earn a stipend for undergraduate research
This CGS program provides a stipend for undergraduate research. Work with the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning to find an opportunity that matches your passions.
Earn academic credit for undergraduate research
Directed studies provide academic credit for undergraduate research. Work with Student Services at the College of General Studies to discuss directed study options.
Join with University-wide research opportunities
UROP fosters faculty-mentored research experiences for BU undergraduate students. Faculty mentors serve as guides, coaches, and facilitators; student researchers hone critical skills while learning the language of their chosen discipline.