<p>As I'm considering colleges, one of my main criterions is scientific research. Note that my interests lie in math, physics, and engineering. </p>
<p>I was always under the impression that research is something a student does in conjunction with a faculty member during the school year. However, after having looked at a number of colleges, it seems that most only list opportunities for research during the summer (and many of these are off-campus as well). Is it rare to be able to do research during the academic year?</p>
<p>Also, are research opportunities at liberal arts colleges generally subpar in quality to those at research universities? LAC's do not seem to have as much funding or the same standard facilities.</p>
<p>How accessible are research positions? Are they easier to obtain at LAC's?</p>
<p>I can’t address the issue at large, but here is our ds’s experience. Our ds loves research and it is absolutely his long term objective. During his jr and srs yrs of high school, he dual enrolled at the local directional university. It is a large university, but it only has a very small physics dept. They only offer an undergrad degree in physics, no grad. He has been actively involved in research on that campus and is currently part of a team this summer doing graphene research. So, in simple terms, yes, opportunities to engage in research on a campus under a professor at your own university is definitely possible. </p>
<p>I’m not quite sure where the idea that only big universities have “big” research going on comes from, bc as ds has been actively engaging with the local professors, he as become aware of just how much research is done via international collaborative teams . (not at all what he envisioned when he first started thinking “research.”) One of his professors in this small dept is part of 3 major international teams including CERN and Super 8. Another is part of a team which collaborates with one of the facilities on Kitt Peak. (can’t remember which now.) And the graphene research he is part of this summer doesn’t require million dollar equipment. Having access to research that cannot be conducted on your campus with facilities found at places like Jefferson Labs is where REU’s can definitely play a role.</p>
<p>Anyway, in talking with one of the dean’s from a top physics dept about the research opportunities he had been offered locally,(oops, I deleted that info above. The local university really worked hard at recruiting ds to stay and one of the things they offered was access to research and being published) the dean at that university was completely frank and told ds that they could not match the opportunity b/c the type of research ds could do here was done by the grad students and undergrads worked for the grads. </p>
<p>So that is what our ds has found anyway. Hope you find the info helpful.</p>
<p>It is not rare to be able to do research during the year, but there may not be formalized programs. That is likely a bit harder to assess when you are searching schools. Some are going to have more or less availability to undergraduates. At my daughter’s university students join professors research all the time (both unpaid, paid and on grants) or do independent research with supervision and that can do that formally for credit as an independent research class. Sometimes when you dig around on department pages you can find research groups or ongoing projects. Whether you can join them is likely a case by case situation. </p>
<p>Wesleyan is the rare case of a LAC that produces doctoral degrees in STEM fields and because the number of candidates is so small, there is always a demand for undergraduates to join on going research during the year. In fact, the degree to which scholarly research is imbedded in Wesleyan’s DNA is a notable difference between it and Amherst:
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