What is it?

The Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) offers undergraduate students with little or no research experience the opportunity to work with graduate students and post-doctoral scholars on their research projects, explore the culture and process of research, and build on their existing abilities within a community of scholars. Running each Spring semester, the undergraduate component of URAP consists of two equally important parts: a one-on-one research experience with their research mentor, and the Introduction to Research course. The course is designed to complement the research mentoring experience, orienting undergraduate mentees to broader topics in the research process.

Participation in URAP is by application only; the application portal for undergraduate students opens early in the Fall semester. Students selected to be part of URAP are expected to commit to: (1) attending the regular weekly class meetings of GC 295, Introduction to Research (3 credit hours) with Office of Undergraduate Research instructors; and (2) working one-on-one with their research mentors, an average of 5-6 hours per week. As part of the course requirement, students will complete a final project, consisting of a poster, to be presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, an annual event held in late April.

WE ASK THAT YOU PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING AS THERE IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BOTH HOW TO APPLY, REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION, AND WHERE TO FIND RESEARCH PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS, ETC.

Who should apply?

Application is open to all registered undergraduate students who have little or no research experience (both domestic and international).

Research Projects

As part of the application, students will identify up to three mentor projects in which they are interested, and articulate why those projects interest them. Please read the project descriptions carefully. While these projects are meant for students with little or no research experience, participation in this program does require diligence, enthusiasm, and commitment.

The list of research project descriptions can be found here: Research Mentors 2025/26

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Informational meetings:

Attend one of our in-person or virtual informational meetings to get tips on creating a successful application, learn why you should participate, and have all your questions answered by a friendly and knowledgable OUR staff member. No advance registration is required to attend an informational meeting. Attendance requires an Illinois Zoom account.

You can find a recorded version of our information meeting below. If you are having issues viewing the video, you can find it linked here.

Help with application:

We are offering two drop-in sessions to review URAP applications. The first will be held on Wednesday, October 1, from 2:00–4:00 p.m., and the second on Thursday, October 2, from 2:00–4:00 p.m. Both sessions will take place in Room 515 of the Illini Union Bookstore Building (807 S. Wright Street, 5th Floor). No registration is required.

Application requirements & timeline:

Requirements

As part of the application, you will respond to a series of short prompts and questions designed to help us understand your interests, goals, and how you see this experience shaping your future.

  1. Interest & Impact Questions
    • Why do you want to be a part of URAP? (not to exceed 200 words)
    • What is the most important thing you hope to gain through participation in URAP, and why? (not to exceed 200 words)
    • When you think about research, what kinds of questions or problems are you most curious about exploring? Why? (not to exceed 200 words)
  2. Research Interest Questions
    • You may indicate up to three project choices. For each project, provide a short explanation (no more than 200 words) about why you are interested in that project. If you list fewer than three projects, you only need to provide explanations for the projects you select.

These are not meant to test your writing skills—we want genuine, thoughtful responses in your own words. We encourage you to draft your answers in a Word document or similar program before copying and pasting into the application form. Multiple drafts of your answers are encouraged.

Statement on use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

While generative AI can be a useful tool in certain instances and we recognize its value, as a best practice for this application, we discourage its use. Why? We want to hear you, your voice. We do not ask for your answers to the question prompts to be polished masterpieces, but rather they should reflect your passion and your interests in the Program and in research.

We encourage you instead to reach out to our office for help in crafting your application. We are happy to brainstorm with you one-on one and review rough drafts. We also offer several drop-in opportunities for draft review; you’ll find the dates for those above. You can also consult the Writers Workshop, which offers in-person and online appointments as well as drop-in consultations. You can find more info about that here.

As an emerging researcher and scholar, it is important that you understand the importance of academic and research integrity. If you do choose to use generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, Gemini, etc.), you must document it (prompts used, to correct grammar/sentence structure, etc.). You will be asked to attest to this as part of the application form.

Timeline

Application portal is currently open; the deadline to apply is Friday, October 10, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.

Finalists will be notified by end of day October 30, and will be invited to interview with the research mentors for the week of October 30 - November 6. Final selection will be made by the research mentors. Undergraduate students selected to participate will be notified before November 13. Successful applicants will be given course CRN, etc., in order to register for the Spring 2026 semester.

To apply:

Students can apply at the "Apply" link below.

Apply