Interested in Research? Consider the UCLA Undergraduate Research Center
Photo from a discussion of Gilles Deleuze, ‘Postscript on Societies of Control.’ Faculty experts, Ken Reinhard and Eleanor Kaufman
Learn How to Do Effective Research—for Any Major!
Interested in learning more about research in the humanities – and how to do it properly?
Come to any or all of the UCLA undergraduate research workshops! Whether you’d like to learn how to write research papers for classes, or whether you’d like to embark on your own research project or honors thesis, these workshops are for you!
The UCLA Undergraduate Research Center – Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences serves students and faculty in humanities, arts, social science, and behavioral science disciplines. Their primary mission is to promote, develop, and celebrate undergraduate student research with the overall goal of enhancing undergraduate education and preparing students for careers in all areas.
Through experiencing the processes of scholarly discovery and the dissemination of their results, students become fully engaged members of the community. They aim to support and increase the retention of humanities, arts, social science, and behavioral science majors by enhancing the visibility, prestige, and material support for participation in undergraduate research and creative activities, both for students and faculty. They achieve our mission through various state-, foundation-, and donor-supported programs, including those that aid students facing socioeconomic, academic, and other challenges.
What is Research in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences?
You’ll find brief descriptions of research in the humanities, arts, and social sciences below taken from the UCLA Undergraduate Research Center for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Keep in mind, however, that research is often interdisciplinary and doesn’t fit into just one category!
Research in the Humanities
Research in the humanities can take a variety of forms; it might include studying language, literature, philosophy, religion, culture, and many other disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas. The study of the humanities is often described as the study of the human experience.
Researchers may interpret texts, films, artworks, music, language, cultural practices, and many other topics and questions. You can explore the UCLA Humanities Division website in order to learn about exciting humanities research and events at UCLA.
Research in the Arts
Arts research might involve creating art (such as creating a sculpture, choreographing a dance, writing music) or investigating and studying art (such as interpreting and analyzing architecture, media arts projects, performances, paintings, etc.).
Arts research can also be broadly interdisciplinary, engaging with humanities, social science, and science topics and questions. You can explore the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture website in order to learn about exciting arts research and events at UCLA.
Research in the Social Sciences
The social sciences are often described broadly as the study of people and society. The social sciences include investigations of culture, economics, geography, politics, history, identity, and many other areas.
Social scientists use a variety of approaches and methodologies to conduct their research; they might run experiments, analyze statistics and data, interview people, observe people in real life, and/or many other methods. You can explore the UCLA Social Sciences Division website in order to learn about exciting social sciences research and events at UCLA.
Student Research Program (SRP)
UCLA’s Student Research Program (SRP) assists undergraduates in obtaining research skills, in defining academic interests and objectives, and in becoming part of the larger university research community. SRP is designed as an entry-level experience and allows undergraduates early in their academic careers to participate in research or engage in scholarly efforts under the direction of a faculty mentor. More than 10,000 students have participated in SRP since the program’s inception in 1985.
Students receive 1 unit of credit for 3-5 hours of work per week or 2 units for 6-10 hours of work per week. Students in the College may take up to 10 units of SRP credit during their undergraduate careers. Only 6 of those SRP units will count towards graduation; once students have completed 6 SRP units, they may enroll in an additional 4 SRP units without credit applied toward the degree. Each student can only submit one SRP contract per quarter.
Student Eligibility
- Must be in good academic standing.
- Must be enrolled in at least 12 units (before SRP units) with full-time status, with the exception of summer quarter.
- If enrolled in over 18 units (including SRP units), students must submit a petition to the appropriate counseling unit to go over the unit max. This petition must be approved before the SRP contract is submitted.
- Students working with faculty mentors who have UCLA Environment, Health & Safety chemical licenses must have completed the Laboratory Safety Fundamental Concepts class before enrolling in an SRP 99 course (see below). Students who need to take the course will see a notation on their SRP 99 contract under their faculty mentor’s name.
Enrollment
Students enroll in SRP (Course 99) by submitting their signed SRP contracts (available on MyUCLA) to the Undergraduate Research Center (Murphy Hall A334) by 4:30 pm on the Friday of second week for fall, winter, spring, and summer quarters. See Creating the SRP Contract for more information.
Students working with faculty mentors who have UCLA Environment, Health & Safety chemical licenses must have completed the Laboratory Safety Fundamental Concepts class before enrolling in an SRP 99 course. If the Laboratory Safety course is required, students will see the following under their faculty mentor’s name when generating the SRP 99 contract in MyUCLA: “Safety Training: Proof of Completion of the Laboratory Safety Fundamental Concepts (LSFC) course is required for participation in research with this mentor.” See Creating the SRP Contract for more information.
Note: For Summer Sessions, students may only enroll in SRP units for one of the sessions (either session A for 6 weeks, session C for 6 weeks, OR session A for 10 weeks). Deadlines for summer SRP contracts are 4:30 p.m. of the second week of each session.
Grading
SRP (Course 99) is a P/NP contract course, and the course requirements are determined by the faculty mentor. At the end of the quarter, the faculty mentor certifies that the contract has been completed and submits a grade. Grades are submitted by the faculty mentor within the last week of the quarter after final exams.
Transcripts
Students’ transcripts will read as follows: Course 99 – Student Research. The number of units listed on the transcript is set by the SRP contract (see above).
Workshops
If you are interested in becoming a part of SRP, please attend one of the SRP 99 workshops held each quarter.
Questions?
Undergraduate Research Center –
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
A334 Murphy Hall
Monday through Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm
Tel: 310.825.2935
Fax: 310.267.5515
urhass@college.ucla.edu