<p>Balthezar,</p>
<p>University reserach is generally in the public domain, which means that it is not classified information. It also takes a full year to get security clearance and costs anywhere from $5000 to $25000. In short - no, it’s very unlikely that you will get it or need it for university research.</p>
<p>If you are working on a classified project, it is a huge downfall because you can’t discuss the work you did during future interviews. (At least, if you want to keep your clearance.) You can say that you worked on a black project and that is probably about it (depending on the level of secret clearance). </p>
<p>It can be advantageous to have security clearance, but recruiters that are hiring for entry level positions won’t expect you to have it.</p>