Opportunities for Student Research

Welcome! We are excited you are interested in undergraduate research. Many wonderful opportunities await you.

Conducting undergraduate research at McLennan Community College will help you to develop real-world knowledge and skills that build your professional resume. A research background will help you stand out when applying to competitive universities, programs and jobs.

Look at the differences in the resumes below. Which one stands out to you?

• Resume with no research experience
• Resume with undergraduate research experience

Research is important for several reasons. You learn important analytical, critical thinking and quantitative thinking skills, as well as the opportunity to study something you find interesting and enjoyable. There are many research opportunities at MCC.

Embedded Course Research

Courses with embedded research are designed to give you hands-on experience with research in a classroom setting. In embedded research courses, students design and conduct an in-class research project.

Current courses with embedded research are:

• BIOL 1406 Majors Biology I
• BIOL 1407 Majors Biology II
• BIOL 2116 Genetics
• MATH 1342 Introduction to Statistics
• MATH 2414 Calculus II

Travel-Based Research Courses

In this type of course, students design and implement an original research project that addresses problems and is conducted in locations outside of McLennan County. These projects can be individual or collaborative. Students work closely with your instructor/mentor in designing the project and then professionally present their results at the annual Student Research Summit.

Travel-based research courses:

• Caribbean Coral Reef Research in Roatan, Honduras

In addition to tuition, students will be required to pay a course fee that includes the cost of traveling, rooms, board, etc. Financial aid (scholarships, grants, loans) can be used to cover course travel fees.

Academic Cooperative Research

This is an opportunity to work closely with an instructor to design and implement a semester-long research project conducted in the lab or in the field locally. These projects may be collaborative with other students when the topic warrants.

These courses may be repeated for credit over multiple semesters to reflect the depth of scientific research involved. Students will present their findings in a discipline-specific paper, as an oral presentation, and/or in a poster session as deemed necessary by the faculty mentor. Students are strongly urged to submit their research to appropriate professional conferences and journals.

To conduct independent student research, you should seek a faculty member whose research background best matches your research interests. When the faculty mentor agrees, he or she will create a specifically designated course (2389) in which you will enroll.

Undergraduate research of this type has previously been available in these disciplines: