For Juniors

Deepen your Research Interests through Junior Independent Work

  • When offered, enroll in your departmental junior methods seminar.

  • Invite a faculty for a meal at your residential college or eating club to ask questions about their research and discuss topics for your JPs.

  • Use your departmental Independent Work Guide to familiarize yourself with departmental goals and expectations regarding independent work.

  • Search the Thesis Archive on DataSpace to explore topics, gather ideas for possible faculty advisers, find sources, gain familiarity with disciplinary writing styles, develop research methodologies for your own independent work, and understand what makes a good independent project.

  • Consult PURC, the Princeton Undergraduate Research Calendar for upcoming seminars and workshops in support of independent work, funding opportunities, important deadlines, and more.

  • Read about how to craft a good research questions or develop an argument in the Writing Program's Writing a JP: the Handbook.

  • Connect your academic work with the research needs of local non-profit organizations through the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) many courses, summer research internships, and support for independent work.

  • Incorporate sustainability into your research through the Campus as Lab program. Study Princeton’s infrastructure, operations, or culture to help solve a sustainability challenge right on campus that has global implications. The Office of Sustainability has created a list of Campus as Lab research questions, filterable by discipline and topic, on its website.

  • If you intend to work with human or animal subjects, plan ahead and attend a workshop on the IRB and IACUC approval process.

  • Sample departmental seminars and Ph.D. defenses to broaden your exposure to research in your discipline.

  • Apply to the Undergraduate Fund for Academic Conferences to present your independent work at a conference.

  • Present your research or creative work at the campus-wide Princeton Research Day in May. Practice  communicating your work and findings to a general audience and join in the celebrations with people from across the University!

  • Subscribe to the Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research Blog to be the first to read student-authored posts on independent work and tips for finding the support you need.

  • Interested in graduate school? Reach out to your faculty adviser, graduate students, and postdocs in your department to find out if graduate school is the right choice for you.  Visit the Career Services website to research programs and learn more about the application process and timeline.

  • Review the month-by-month Junior Action Plan to help you make sense of your third year at Princeton and stay on track.

  • Schedule an appointment in Bookings with Dr. Pascale Poussart, director of undergraduate research, or Dr. Caitlin Larracey, assistant director, to discuss your research options during this academic year and next summer.

Plan for your Summer Research Experience Early!

  • In the spring, apply for A.B. senior thesis funding through the Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE) to fund your thesis research over the summer. When applying for funding to the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), review the funding guidelines to optimize your chances of getting funded.

  • Browse through the list of existing Princeton-based summer research programs for undergraduates and apply for a research-based internship.

  • Set up a Pivot account and use this system to match your research interests to non-Princeton funded research programs such as fellowships and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs.