UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Purdue University is one of the nation's leading research institutions. There is a vibrant culture of undergraduate student research at Purdue with almost 2,000 research projects completed every year. An emphasis on experiential learning and the real-world application of knowledge are two distinguishing characteristics of the Purdue student experience.
As a Plant Science undergraduate student, participating in research is part of your student experience! The two courses we offer for research are BTNY 29800 (available for freshmen and sophomores) and BTNY 49800 (available for juniors and seniors).
* Please note that the research application process should be completed by the end of the first week of the semester.
Undergraduate Research Application Process (Click here to download the full step by step list)
- Contact a BTNY faculty research instructor that you are interested in researching with to discuss the research opportunity and plan your research project. During this step, you will identify the project title, hypothesis, description of research methods, and number of hours for the semester. Students are not restricted to BTNY faculty when looking for a lab, but if you go outside of the department, you must still be completing a BTNY 29800 or 49800 for it to apply as a focus selective or capstone research.
- Use Scheduling Assistant to register for BTNY 29800 (for freshmen and sophomores) or BTNY 49800 (for juniors and seniors) with the Course Reference Number (CRN) assigned to your research instructor** (CRN is available in myPurdue > Course Catalog Resources); you will need to request an override for permission from department. In the override request, please comment with the number of credits you are planning to complete, the faculty member’s name, and whether this is a new research project or a continuation from a previous semester.
- **Please note: If the faculty member that you are working with does NOT have a CRN assigned, please contact us at botany@purdue.edu. A CRN will be added with the faculty’s name and you can proceed with the remaining steps.
- You will receive a research application via email as a DocuSign form to complete. You must complete all of the required fields and sign it, then the document will be emailed to your research instructor to comment and sign.
- Once your application is approved by the department undergraduate chair, your override request to register will be approved and you need to confirm your registration in Scheduling Assistant. IF YOU ARE COMPLETING MORE THAN ONE RESEARCH CREDIT, you will need to adjust the number of registered credits. Here are instructions on how to adjust your credits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYvXSCEVXx8
FOR AN IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION OF THE BOTANY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY FACULTY RESEARCH AREAS, CLICK HERE.
Please contact Lisa Klein (klein85@purdue.edu) with any questions about this process.