Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate research opportunities in engineering and applied sciences

Opportunities for undergraduates to conduct research in engineering, the applied sciences, and in related fields abound at Harvard. As part of your coursework, or perhaps as part of individual research opportunities working with professors, you will have the chance to undertake some extraordinary projects covering topics ranging from bioengineering to cryptography to environmental engineering.

Our dedicated undergraduate research facilities and Teaching Labs also provide opportunities for students to engage in hands-on learning. We encourage undergraduates from all relevant concentrations to tackle projects during the academic year and/or over the summer.

Keep in mind, many students also pursue research at private companies and labs as well as at government institutions like the National Institutes of Health.

If you have any questions, please contact or stop by the Academic Office, located in Pierce Hall, 110.

Opportunities

SEAS Teaching Labs

The SEAS Teaching Labs provide support for courses and independent workshops with a fundamental focus on hands-on research.

Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE)

Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE) is a 10-week summer residential community of undergraduates participating in research. Free on-campus housing to accepted participants.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) offers summer research opportunities focused on materials research and nanoscale science and engineering. Accepted participants receive a stipend and housing on campus.

Research through student employment at Harvard

Summer and term-time opportunities are available through the Student Employment Office.

Office of Career Services

The Office of Career Services (OCS) offers opportunities for students to conduct research in industry settings.

Harvard Fellowships Office

The Harvard Fellowships Office is probably the largest and most centralized office involved in undergraduate grant administration. Relevant fellowships, sponsored by the University, for engineering and applied sciences students include:

Herchel Smith Harvard Undergraduate Research Fellowships (to pursue personally significant, self-designed scientific research experiences in the sciences during the summer or a leave of absence, in the U.S. or overseas); and

Weissman International Internship Program (to foster the development of Harvard College students’ understanding of the global community in which they will live and work).

Working in a SEAS Lab

If you are interested in working in a faculty lab, visit the individual faculty or lab group sites and look for open opportunities or contact the faculty member directly.

More Information

Faculty Research Area Directory
List of SEAS faculty by primary research areas (PDF).

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In the Lab

When Voranaddha “Bim” Vacharathit ’10 steps from the elevator into the fourth floor of the Engineering Science Building at 40 Oxford Street, she enters a world of unexpected connections.

Inside a Harvard bioengineering lab, David Sengeh ’10 develops new health-care solutions for the least developed country in the world—his native Sierra Leone.

Taking shape within the massive Northwest Science Building, the Jeremy R. Knowles Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory is a new kind of research lab. The lab is the latest manifestation of Harvard’s continuing transformation of its undergraduate science and engineering curriculum.