Opportunities for Undergraduates to Pursue Research Projects Did you know that as an undergraduate sociology major there are many opportunities for you to get paid to do research with faculty and gain valuable experience? It’s true! Check out these opportunities: UAH Research and Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU) This ten-week summer program is a great opportunity for students to work on research projects with faculty in various disciplines. Students get one-on-one mentorship and learn valuable new research skills. RCEU students receive a stipend in the amount of $3,750 for their work on the project. Student applications are accepted in December and January. For more information go here. National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program This national program offers students free travel, room and board, and a generous stipend for spending a summer on a research project with faculty at a university with an REU Site. Opportunities differ each year, but previous examples include an REU program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln involving applying social network analysis to racial health disparities and one at Texas A&M University involving research on residential segregation and disparities in criminal justice outcomes. Deadlines are specific to each university’s program and are typically around in January or February. Search for REU site opportunities here. NASA DEVELOP This program gives students and recent graduates in all disciplines who are interested in environmental issues an opportunity to conduct research as part of an interdisciplinary team and develop technical and communication skills. DEVELOP participants receive hourly pay for their work. Applications for this summer program are typically accepted in January and February each year. For more information go here. Opportunities for Undergraduates to Present Research at Conferences Presenting at academic conferences is not just for your professors! If you’ve completed a research project, or even just written a research paper for a class, you too can travel to a conference and present your work. The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences will even help pay for it; the Dean’s Office provides up to $330 per year to undergraduates to attend and present research at conferences. The following conferences are welcoming places for students to get some experience presenting their work as a talk or as a poster. Many also offer specific programs for undergraduates, travel grants, and student paper competitions with monetary prizes. So, talk with your professors about it and consider participating in one of the conferences listed below: Alabama-Mississippi Sociological Association This small, student-friendly conference is typically held in late February each year at a university in Alabama or Mississippi. The deadline for submissions is typically in late November each year. For more info, go here. Southeastern Undergraduate Sociology Symposium This undergraduate conference is held annually and alternates between Emory University and Morehouse College, both in Atlanta, Georgia. See their website for updates on the next conference, which is to be announced. For more info, go here. Southern Sociological Society This larger regional conference is typically held in a southern city in late March or early April each year. The deadline for submissions is typically in late October or early November. UAH Sociology is a Departmental Member of SSS, so you will not have to pay annual dues in order to present at this conference. For more info, go here. Mid-South Sociological Association This conference is typically held in a city like Birmingham, Chattanooga, or Jackson, MS, in October of each year and submissions are usually due in July. Check out their website for information and details on next year’s meeting. For more info, go here. American Sociological Association The annual meeting of the ASA is typically held in a major city like NYC and San Francisco in early August each year. This conference offers numerous programs and opportunities for undergraduates. The deadline to submit is typically in January. For more info, go here. Student Research Spotlight Alex Haynes, RCEU Award This summer Alex Haynes received a grant from the UAH Research Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU) Program to work on the project, “How We See Race: Using Eye Tracking Technology to Explore Racial Perception,” with Dr. Jennifer Sims, Assistant Professor of Sociology. Their research uses eye-tracking to record which parts of a person’s face participants looked at when determining race.