All undergraduates—regardless of year or major—are eligible to enroll in CURO research courses, take advantage of CURO funding, and submit abstracts for presentation at our annual Symposium, as long as you have a UGA faculty mentor. Faculty mentors and major departments may have their own requirements for undergraduate researchers.

What can I research?

You may pursue research in any field! What interests you? What are you passionate about? What are your academic and career goals? Answers to these questions can lead you to mentors, and mentors can help you understand how to explore those interests further.

Finding a mentor

To pursue research through CURO, you are required to have a UGA faculty mentor. We recommend using one or more of the following resources to identify potential mentors:

• Classes: Are you taking a course you really enjoy? Talk to the professor who is teaching it about research opportunities.
• Websites: Search for a research topic on the UGA homepage. Review faculty profiles on departmental websites. Browse the interdisciplinary research clusters and research listing on the UGA Integrated Life Sciences page.
• CURO website: Look for opportunities advertised by faculty on the CURO Research Opportunities page.

Reaching out to a mentor

1. Do your background research. After identifying a mentor or mentors you want to work with, do some research on them, including the research projects they’re working on, what they may have published lately, and who might be on their team.
2. Connect to your own interests. Before emailing, think about how their interests connect to your passions and goals. Tell them why their research interests you.
3. Write your email. We’ve included some tips below on how to write your email to faculty:
   • Keep your email short and concise.
   • Use your UGAMail email account.
   • Write an easily understandable subject line (i.e. “Possible undergraduate research opportunities”).
   • Include a professional salutation (i.e. “Professor or Dr._________”).
   • Include your name, class year, and why you are emailing them.
4. Prepare to reach out again. Many faculty members are super busy! It’s best to email faculty early in the semester, or even before a semester begins. We recommend waiting a week before emailing a second time. We also recommend reaching out to several potential faculty mentors.