Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate students can participate in bioengineering research in laboratories in the department or across campus. See the research page for areas of specialization in the department. This research can range from instrumentation development to computational modeling to hands-on biological experiments. Research can be carried out during the academic year of during the summer as part of various Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs. Here at Penn State we offer the BBSI (REU) program. Other summer research opportunities can be found here.
To become involved in research, contact a professor in a research area that interests you and set up an appointment to meet and talk about their research. Some specific research positions are posted here and here. You may want to consider research in other engineering departments and PSU Colleges (e.g. Science & BBH), in addition to Bioengineering depending on personal interest. To carry out research during the semester, you should try to set up blocks of time when you don’t have classes and are available to work.
Undergraduate research is an important component of the Schreyer’s Honors program, where this research leads to a thesis. However, any student in bioengineering can write a senior thesis and receive course credits for this work. Students who carry out undergraduate research are encouraged to focus their work towards a Bioengineering Senior Thesis.