“Students are central to what we do with research at a university, whether that’s undergraduate or graduate researchers. Research is part of the educational process, because research is about teaching people how to think and discover; how to be analytical and deductive and reasoned.”
—Jeffrey F. Rhoads, Vice President for Research
Employer expectations, along with wider recognition of the value of research experience, have led to steady growth in the number of undergraduates engaged in research. Today, more than one-third of all Notre Dame undergraduates participate in original research with a faculty mentor - a number that continues to rise.
The University encourages all undergraduates to participate in extracurricular scholarly engagement in order to enhance their educational experience and to begin to have an impact on the world as an undergraduate. Scholarly engagement can take various forms—service learning, internships, cultural and linguistic immersion, and undergraduate research.
The Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) is a University center that serves as an advising hub for undergraduates who want to learn more about getting started in research, securing funding for research, and presenting and publishing research. CUSE offers workshops, online resources, and one-on-one advising meetings, all designed to help undergraduates discern their scholarly interests and make a plan for how to engage with them beyond the curriculum in partnership with faculty members and the numerous centers and institutes that support undergraduate scholarly engagement at Notre Dame. In the 2016-17 academic year, nearly $2 million was distributed to undergraduates to support research activities. And while all undergraduates will typically encounter research in the course of their studies, more than one-third of undergraduates conduct extracurricular research before they graduate.