Campus-Wide Research Programs
College Park Scholars
1125 Cumberland Hall
301-314-2777
cpsinfo@deans.umd.edu
College Park Scholars is a community of twelve special living-learning programs for academically talented first and second year students. Each program focuses on a specific theme and offers specially designed courses and experiences that relate to its theme. Students in College Park Scholars take classes together and live together in selected residence halls. The programs are: Advocates for Children; American Cultures; Arts; Business, Society & the Economy; International Studies; Earth, Life & Time; Environmental Studies; Life Sciences; Media, Self & Society; Public Leadership; Science, Discovery & the Universe; and Science, Technology & Society.
Discovery Projects: An Introduction to Research
The Discovery Project is a variable credit course taken either during the Fall and Spring semesters, or just in the Spring semester, of the sophomore year. Discovery gives students the unique opportunity, and quite literally the time, to answer one or more questions about the world which intrique them. They will be working with mentors who assist them in learning and implementing the research process and who have studied the subject matter or methods of similar or corollary questions. Students search out secondary research (like published articles or books on the topic), but more importantly they will develop and use primary research data, using such data in archives, interviews with people, surveys, or lab experiments.
Gemstone Program
0100J Ellicott Hall
301-405-8047
vhill@umd.edu
The Gemstone Program at the University of Maryland is a unique multidisciplinary four-year research program for selected undergraduate honors students of all majors. Under guidance of faculty mentors and Gemstone staff, teams of students design, direct and conduct significant research exploring the interdependence of science and technology with society. Gemstone students are members of a living-learning community comprised of fellow students, faculty and staff who work together to enrich the undergraduate experience. This community challenges and supports the students in the development of their research, teamwork, communication and leadership skills. In the fourth year each team of students presents its project in the form of a thesis to leaders in the field, and the students complete the program with a citation and a tangible sense of accomplishment.
Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate
Achievement Program
3216K J.M. Patterson Building
301-405-4749
npeko@umd.edu
The mission of the University of Maryland Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program is to increase the number of undergraduates enrolling in graduate school to pursue doctoral degrees. McNair scholars are a unique group of students who receive advising, academic skill enhancement, research experiences, counseling, tutoring and other assistance in preparing for enrollment in graduate school. The program admits full-time juniors and rising seniors who wish to enhance their skills for graduate study. To apply, students must be enrolled at the University of Maryland College Park, UM Eastern Shore or Frostburg State University. In addition, the students must meet the following criteria: low-income, first generation students, and students from a group that has traditionally been underrepresented in graduate education programs; be interested in pursuing a Ph.D.; and a minimum GPA of 2.85 in the students' major and/or exceptional academic progress in the two preceding semesters or last 30 hours of academic credits is required.
Senior Summer Scholars - A competitive program for rising seniors. Participants receive a stipend to conduct scholarly research over the summer prior to senior year.
Maryland Student Researchers - A volunteer program for students interested in research. Students work with faculty members as research assistants.
University Honors Program
Anne Arundel Hall
301-405-1221
tdula@umd.edu
The University Honors Program is the long-established program for the most talented students on campus in their first two years. It offers students the opportunity to become part of a close-knit community of faculty and intellectually gifted undergraduates committed to acquiring a broad and balanced education. Honors students combine Honors coursework with regular electives and studies in their major to deepend their total educational experience. First and second year undergraduates broaden their intellectual horizons by selected Honors seminars and Honors versions of regular courses in the arts and sciences, most of which fulfill CORE (general education) requirements in five semesters. Juniors and seniors may continue taking Honors seminars, teach in two one-credit colloquia for first-year students, and apply to more than 30 departmental or college Honors programs that provide opportunities to work closely with faculty mentors on independent research projects.
Honors Humanities
Tanya Jung, Program
Director
1103 Wicomico Hall
(301) 405-6992
Honors Humanities is a two-year Living/Learning program for talented beginning undergraduates with an interest in the arts and humanities. The program is an exciting collaboration between the College of Arts and Humanities and the University Honors Program. The goals of Honors Humanities are to bring to campus academically gifted students and to provide them with a challenging, inter-disciplinary, research-based study of the humane disciplines that will prepare the students for advanced College and Departmental Honors works in their chosen majors.
Honors Humanities is open to all majors. Those students in non-humanities majors often find that the Honors Humanities program provides a beneficial background in the arts and humanities. Students who are admitted to the University Honors Program may receive an invitation to participate in Honors Humanities. Students who complete the 15-credit program receive a citation in Honors Humanities.
Research Opportunities at University of Maryland Colleges
A. James Clark School of Engineering
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
College of Arts and Humanities
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Robert H. Smith School of Business
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences
College of Chemical and Life Sciences
College of Health and Human Performance
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Resources for Non-UM Students