Information for Undergraduate Students

For submission, all posters must be in PDF format. All posters must be formatted to be 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall. We recommend that you use PowerPoint to create your poster. You will want to make the poster one slide (or one page), sized at 36 inches high by 48 inches wide. You can do this in page layout under the “File” or “Design” menu.

Do not use non-standard fonts. The best way to avoid disappointment is to embed fonts in your file.

NOTE: Mac PowerPoint cannot embed fonts. 

In PowerPoint, click Save As in the File menu, and click “Tools” in the upper right-hand corner of the toolbar of the box that opens. Then click Save Options, select the Embed TrueType Fonts check box, and then do one of the following: To embed only those characters used in the presentation, select Embed characters in use only (best for reducing file size). To embed all the characters in the font set, select Embed all characters (best for editing by others).

In Publisher, on the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Fonts. In the Fonts dialogue box, do one of the following: Set embedding options for all fonts in your publication. To embed the entire font, select Embed TrueType fonts when saving the publication. Do not embed common system fonts. To embed only a subset (font subsetting: embedding a limited number of characters specific to one font, reducing file size) of the font, select Subset fonts when embedding. Set embedding options for individual fonts in your publication. Select the font. Click Embed or Don't Embed.

Design to web standards for maximum resolution and minimum size. Use graphics that are saved in .gif, .jpeg, .eps, or .png format (this means exporting them if you’re using a special program to create them), and make sure that they do not exceed 300dpi. You should embed objects in your poster, just like you would fonts: check the help menu on the application you’re using for this. Color may not appear printed as on the screen.

Do not use busy, complicated backgrounds, as this will increase the size of your document and make it more difficult to print. When in PowerPoint and Publisher, you should make sure that you set the text box background color to transparent to avoid having the background print over your text.

There will be an approximately .5 inch white margin around your poster when it is printed. Make sure that when designing your poster you do not exceed the margins and force the printer to cut off your text.

We ask that all students presenting at the Aresty Symposium please include an official Aresty Research Center logo somewhere on the poster, preferably in one of the upper corners.

Students may present posters that outline their research questions, background literature and information, methodological approach and analysis of texts or materials, conclusions, and areas for further investigation.

Students may present at a presentation station. Stations will be tables where students can display research materials like artifacts or manuscripts or use a laptop or tablet to share materials and findings. A limited number of projectors are available. Contact the Aresty Center if you feel your presentation requires one.

Students should have four-to-six slides to share. The slides should cover:

• What is the central research problem or question you have been helping to explore?
• What is the new approach or intervention that the project is making in the field?
• What was your approach to the research? What methods or materials did you work with and how?
• What did you find? Consider sharing examples or brief case studies that capture what you have discovered.
• What were your conclusions and potential areas of future research?

Proposals must include a project overview, a personal statement, a proposed budget, and a letter of endorsement from the mentor guiding the research. Please note that many proposals receive partial funding, and we encourage students to seek funding from multiple sources, including their academic departments.

Research grant recipients are required to share their research with the university community at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in April. Approved recipients are required to participate in Aresty's research preparation workshops in advance of the symposium. These peer-led symposium preparedness workshops are available February-March.

• Academic Year 2025-2026 Proposal Opens: August 29, 2025
• Academic Year 2025-2026 Proposal Deadline: October 15, 2025

These grants are offered jointly by the Aresty Research Center, the Honors Program of the School of Arts and Sciences, the Honors College, and Douglass Residential College. Please indicate your affiliation, if any, in the “Funding Unit” section of the application. If you are awarded an undergraduate research grant, funding will come from one of these sources. Please note, SAS senior thesis applicants must identify this affiliation for SAS Scholarship Office funding opportunities. 

Rutgers–New Brunswick undergraduates who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

• Working on a research project with a high degree of independence
• Previous research experience in the field of the research proposed
• Established relationship with a research mentor who can endorse and oversee the proposed project
• Significant involvement and independence in both formulating the question and conducting the proposed investigation

Many successful applicants are registered in an independent research course. Please include your course number in your application.

This program is not able to fund students who are currently in the Aresty Research Assistant Program. We also are not able to fund requests related to senior design projects in the School of Engineering or thesis-related research in the School of Arts and Sciences. SAS senior thesis applicants can apply and have their applications referred to the SAS Scholarship Office.

Undergraduate research grants can support research projects up to one full year in length. The duration may include projects that begin in the fall, spring, or summer terms. The fall application should cover all possible terms.

Applications are now closed.

When applications are open, they are completed online and require the following documents:

• Project overview: What are the contexts, aims, methods, and motivations for your research? What materials do you need and why? (four-to-five pages, double-spaced)
  • Please devise the overview with an educated non-specialist as your intended audience.
• Personal statement: How does your research fit into your professional and personal goals? How did you arrive at this point, and where to you hope it will lead? (one-to-two pages, double-spaced)
• Itemized budget
• Advisor endorsement (it is the applicant's responsibility to ensure application is complete)
• Travel plan (if the research requires international travel).

1. Expendable supplies and services directly related to the student's proposed research, limited to those items not normally provided by the student’s research department. If your proposed project uses animals, you must justify the number you are proposing to use.
2. Individually initiated travel to special collections, libraries, archives, research facilities, research sites, and other special resources. Costs that may be covered include transportation (airfare, rail tickets, gasoline, highway tolls, etc.) and lodging.
3. Books, when unavailable through the Rutgers University libraries, via interlibrary loan, or limited digital access.
4. Participant/subject costs: Only when access to a participant pool is unavailable, and compensation is a necessary component built into the design of the proposal. The number of participants and individual participant cost must be justified.
5. Limited photocopying, if digital access is unavailable, e.g., surveys to be distributed. Photocopying will not be considered an alternative to note taking and must be specifically justified in the proposal.

1. Living expenses, e.g., meals, rent, clothing, laundry, internet service, utilities, etc.
2. Tuition at Rutgers University or any other educational institution, domestic or abroad.
3. Stipends/per diems.
4. Equipment, e.g., computers, software, lab equipment that will be used beyond the duration of the specified research project.
5. Software and software licenses that are accessible to students on campus.

Here are a few essential guidelines regarding eligibility:

• Any Rutgers–New Brunswick undergraduate student is eligible to receive conference funding.
• Each applicant will need a faculty advisor who is willing to endorse their project and presentation.
• In all cases, the undergraduate must have significant involvement and independence in both formulating the question and conducting the investigation. Please note that the funding departments do not fund faculty or graduate student projects.
• Students applying to attend the same conference must submit individual applications.
• Students must be accepted to present at the conference before applying for conference funding.
• The student must apply for funding before attending the conference. Awards are not granted retroactively.
• Conference funding cannot cover meals, living expenses, tuition, or research expenses, i.e., lab equipment, books, materials, supplies, or poster printing.
• If the conference falls before April, recipients are required to present their work at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Applications must be completed online through our secure portal. The online application requires the following documents:

• Project Overview
• Abstract
• Personal Statement
• Detailed Budget Request
• Advisor Endorsement*
• Official confirmation of acceptance to present at a conference

*Please note: The Aresty Research Center will only review completed applications. Applicants are responsible for ensuring their faculty advisors submit their letters of support by the first of the month when proposals are evaluated.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of each month. Funds for successful applications will be available within 15-30 days.

Ensure that all of the following application materials are clear, concise, complete, and compelling. All materials will be uploaded with your application.

Project Overview (approximately three-to-four pages in length, double-spaced)

Include the following sections, written in a manner that a non-expert would understand:

• What is the general problem, theme, or issue your project addresses?
• What are the specific questions or objectives that your project tries to answer? Include references cited appropriately in scientific, APA, MLA, or Chicago format.
• What methods, procedures, theories, or thought processes did you use to address your research topic and answer the questions you pose?
• What are the broader (social, cultural, intellectual, practical, theoretical) implications of your research?
• Describe why attending and presenting at this conference is important to your education here at Rutgers.

Abstract: Please provide a copy of the abstract you submitted to the conference.

Personal Statement (no more than 500 words): Briefly describe the personal interests that led you to undertake the research and discuss what value you see in presenting your work at this conference.

Budget Request: A detailed, realistic, itemized list of expenses you expect to incur. Include any other funds you are applying for or have already received. 

Official Conference Acceptance to Present: Please upload an official acceptance letter or email confirmation from the conference.

Advisor Endorsement: Once you submit your application, your faculty advisor will automatically be asked to upload a letter on your behalf and verify your budget.

The letter from your advisor should address the following:

• How has the student demonstrated intellectual leadership with this project?
• Was the project independent or collaborative? If collaborative, what was the student's role?
• How would presenting at the conference contribute to the student's intellectual development?
• What is your or your department’s contribution to the resources required for this conference?

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Research is the process of creating new knowledge or building onto existing literature. It involves a community of researchers and/or experts which includes undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and other members. Research can be interdisciplinary and can be done in any fields of study, i.e., history, chemistry, anthropology, linguistics, politics, religion, etc.

Research always begins with a question(s) of interest: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? To answer the question(s), the researcher must find evidence to support their argument. Depending on the field of study, the researcher will rely on different sources or materials to support the argument/theory of their research. For instance, if in chemistry, the researcher will likely work in a laboratory testing different compounds, elements, etc. to prove their hypothesis. If in history, the researcher will have to rely on primary and secondary literature to build their argument. They will likely find themselves in national libraries digging through old archival documents to find proof to support their argument.

Research is an opportunity to work with experts in your area(s) of interest, gain extensive experience, and build a valuable network in your field of study. You will learn how to formulate questions, design plans to find answers, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions from that data, and share your findings with a community. Doing research will also make you an informed consumer of the research that you encounter on a daily basis: you will be able to evaluate the information presented to you as a citizen of our complex society and make educated decisions about all kinds of public policy issues that affect your everyday life. Finally, research prepares you for the world beyond Rutgers by honing your independent thinking and creativity, time-management and budget skills, and confidence in your academic and career goals.

Research begins with a question. If you are interested in conducting research as an undergraduate, you have already taken the first step by attending Rutgers. Engaging undergraduates in the discovery of knowledge is at the very heart of the Rutgers mission. Whether through taking a research-intensive course, working in one of the university's many centers or institutes, or teaming up with a favorite professor to pursue a mutual academic interest, the opportunities to become involved in research abound for students of all majors.

There are essentially two paths to research projects: applying to formal programs like the Aresty Programs or by approaching a faculty member directly. The second option works best if you're a junior or senior or if you've missed the regular Aresty application processes.

If you are a first-year or sophomore student who has never conducted research, start by taking a research-intensive course or helping a faculty member with their research. You should talk with your favorite professors about their research interests, many of which are listed on departmental websites, and about how to get involved.

Depending on your field of study, you will be required to complete different tasks in your research. For example, studies in the humanities are grounded on primary and secondary literature, which is work that has been done and published by other scholars. Thus, researchers would be required to complete readings and write a literature review in which they give a detailed summary of the literature explored and what is missing from the literature. Students then use literature to support or disprove their argument and draw their own conclusion. Students in sciences will likely work in a laboratory running experiments to test different samples of compounds, work with rodents, etc. They assist with building equipment, prepare samples, or perform assays, etc. They will also be required to complete readings on current scientific studies.

Irrespective of your field of study, all research involves the collection of data which may include conducting interviews or observations, reading news articles, attending conferences, running different tests for an experiment, etc. The collected data will be your finding(s) which will then be analyzed to support your hypothesis or argument of your research.

The best way to choose a faculty mentor for your project is to research the professor(s) you might be interested to work with. This can be done by simply googling the professor, looking through the departmental websites, or by perusing some past projects from the Aresty Research Assistant Program or Aresty Summer Science Program. Some mentors may want assistance with a project they are already working on, while others may be interested in helping you to develop your own project. Read your prospective mentor’s current articles or publications, visit their website, and be prepared to meet with them and articulate your interests and goals. Your project idea does not need to be perfect at your first meeting: good research always evolves. 

Learn more about finding a faculty mentor.

Begin by thinking about:

• People with whom you would like to work. Are there faculty or research staff whom you particularly enjoyed learning from? Do you have friends who are doing research and who speak highly of their advisors?
• Topics that are of interest to you. Think back over classes you have taken: Which were the most enjoyable? Which did you find yourself spending extra time on? Which left you wanting to learn more?
• If you are eligible for one of our structured programs. Find out and apply.
• Searching for a research opportunity that interests you in our Undergraduate Research System (URS).

Embarking on your own independent research project involves advance planning. With your faculty mentor, decide what books and articles will be important to review, how many hours a week you should plan to invest in your project, and whether you will be working alone or with a group. Contact us to find out about getting funding, participating in skill-building workshops, or answering your questions.

Yes, research is absolutely for undergraduates. By participating in the research process, you will find that your education will come alive. You will learn how the knowledge we currently have was generated and how answers can be found. Most importantly, you will learn that there are many questions still to be asked and solutions to be discovered that will improve our understanding of the world and the quality of life for all. Everyone from first-year students to seniors are qualified to ask these kinds of questions because research is a process of discovery for all of us. The only prerequisite is the desire to ask questions.

You might ask your first questions in the classroom, or during office hours, or perhaps those questions will come to you in the middle of the night. Answering those questions might entail working with a professor or even a team of your peers on a project that is already underway, gaining an appreciation for active inquiry and analysis and getting your feet wet in the research process. In many cases, those first experiences compel students to go on to design and conduct a creative project of their own devising in close consultation with faculty mentors.

First-year students may apply for the Summer Science Program. The program runs for 10 weeks between May and August each year.

All undergraduate students may apply for the Research Assistant Program. The program runs from September to April each year.

No. The Aresty Research Center for Undergraduates is for Rutgers–New Brunswick undergraduate students only.

Yes, our programs are competitive. For our Summer Science Program, we receive approximately 450 applicants for 60 research opportunities. For our Research Assistant Program, we typically receive about 1,200 applicants for approximately 300 RA positions.

While there is no minimum GPA required, students must be in good academic standing and demonstrate a genuine interest in becoming involved in research. No previous research experience is necessary.

All undergraduate students may apply for the Research Assistant Program. The program runs from September to April each year.

Students may only participate in the Aresty Research Assistant Program once.

Yes, rising seniors are eligible to apply for our RA program.

With so many fascinating opportunities to choose from, we understand that it is difficult to choose just one. You may apply to a maximum of three projects. Please submit a separate application for each.

First-year students may apply for the Summer Science Program. The program runs for 12 weeks between May and August each year.

With so many fascinating opportunities to choose from, we understand that it is difficult to choose just one. You may apply to a maximum of three projects. Please submit a separate application for each.

Students are provided with a $3,000 stipend and housing for the 12-week program. Click here to learn more about the program.

Students who apply to the Summer Science Program may only apply to the Research Assistant Program if they are not selected for the Summer Science Program.

Only participants in the Aresty Research Assistant Program and recipients of funding through the grant program are required and eligible to present their work due to limited capacity.

We offer workshops on various topics including selecting a research project, finding a faculty mentor, writing an abstract, how to develop an effective poster for presenting your research, and many other topics related to undergraduate research. These workshops are open to all Rutgers–New Brunswick undergraduate students. View our upcoming events listing to see the next available workshop offered.

If you have more questions or would like to discuss an idea, feel free to contact the staff at the Aresty Research Center.

All undergraduate students doing an independent research project under the guidance of a Rutgers faculty member may apply for an undergraduate research fellowship. View more information and learn how to apply.

We invite students to submit proposals for funding to alleviate the cost of research, for conference travel, and various sources and materials, including books, photocopying costs, and other supplies. Funding cannot be used for meals, living expenses, tuition, or equipment that will be used beyond the duration of the research project. In general, we do not fully fund student research projects, rather we encourage students to seek funding from multiple sources.

All fellowship or conference funding recipients must submit receipts for all award money spent by the end of their project, and no later than the end of the spring semester. The money spent must align with the budget that was submitted with the application. Any funds not spent from the award must also be returned. Additionally, funding recipients are required to present their research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium.