Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Your adventures in original scholarship start today.

Participating in a challenging and meaningful undergraduate research project or creative activity can be the single most important experience that you will have in college. Plus, collaborative research is a great way to work one-on-one with a faculty mentor.

Undergraduate research at the College is fueled by our longstanding commitment to meaningful faculty-student engagement. Our students feel comfortable asking their professors to guide them through independent projects. And our faculty know that bright, motivated students make an excellent addition to any research team.

Recent undergraduate research projects include biology students who are studying the circadian rhythms of mice, English majors who are examining Anglo-Irish relations in the Victorian novel, computer science students engaged in autonomous robotic mapping and psychology students studying healthy social behavior in middle school children.

Through the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) program, the College of Charleston backs up its commitment to undergraduate research and creative activities with four kinds of competitive grants:

  • Academic Year Research Award (AYRA) — Provides up to $300 for essential materials and supplies for the project.
  • Research Presentation Grant (RPG) — Covers expenses associated with presenting research at regional, national and international conferences. Maximum amount is $750.
  • Major Academic Year Support (MAYS) — A grant (up to $5,000) that covers technology, equipment, supplies and even a student salary for larger projects.
  • Summer Undergraduate Research with Faculty (SURF) — A grant (up to $6,500) that funds faculty and student stipends, and pays for equipment and travel expenses associated with summer research projects.

If you have any question about how to initiate, manage or fund an undergraduate research or creative activity project, please contact the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities at the College. 

For more information, please visit the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities website.