Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines undergraduate research as “a mentored investigation or creative activity conducted by undergraduates that seeks to make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge.” Mercer University maintains enhanced institutional membership with CUR, so all members of the Mercer community have access to CUR’s resources, including free individual membership access.

Resources for Students Resources for Faculty

Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) includes scholarly, creative, and artistic activities that

lead to new knowledge,
improve problem solving capabilities,
offer original or historical theory and interpretation, or
produce art or creative performances.¹

As undergraduates, students do this work under the direction of a faculty mentor. At Mercer, URCA tends to fall into three categories:

Course-based: students conduct research and/or creative activities as part of a course
Faculty-led: a student serves as an assistant on a professor’s project and is supervised by the professor
Student-led: a student works on a project of personal interest under the direction of a professor

Getting Started with URCA

Research and creative activities are for everyone! Whether you plan to launch your career after graduation or pursue graduate school, the skills you develop will distinguish you from your peers and prepare you for success in any environment. Some of the benefits include:

Developing mentoring relationships
Developing transferable skills like critical thinking, organization and time management, collaboration, and communication
Exploring career and graduate education options

It is never too late or too early to get started with URCA, and all Mercer undergraduates are eligible to participate. Students typically don’t begin doing URCA before their second year – after they have had time to adjust to college life – and there are opportunities to begin doing URCA as late as your senior year. It depends on your interests, your availability, your major, and the opportunities available.

URCA is, by definition, a mentored learning experience, so your professors expect to spend time training you to do the work. Students don’t typically need any prior experience with research in order to be considered, but you’ll often find that students who are further along in their major are better prepared because they have had time to do coursework that prepares them for URCA. Ultimately, each faculty mentor has different expectations and standards, and spending time investigating opportunities is the best strategy to find out how to prepare yourself for an URCA experience.

Click here to read more FAQs and myths about URCA

Click here for stories of URCA at Mercer

Undergraduate research and creative activities at Mercer are coordinated by the Assistant Provost for Research, Dr. Garland Crawford. For more information, contact Dr. Crawford directly at Crawford_GL@mercer.edu.