Undergraduate research and labs

Research Assistantships

Research Assistantships offer you the opportunity to dive deep into a topic, integrate into a local research group, collaborate with a mentor, and build skills including synthesis of academic literature, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Research Assistantships include a wide range methodologies and span diverse disciplines, from the natural and health sciences to the arts and humanities, so you can find a relevant research project no matter your academic background.

Credits
Research Assistantships include both 3-credit and 6-credit opportunities.

Conduct your own research project
If you are already involved in research at your home institution, you can apply to continue your work while abroad with a 3-credit Independent Research Project. You’ll work under the guidance of a DIS faculty member as you use Stockholm or Copenhagen as a source for your work.

Labs

With a lab course, you can develop and test your own hypothesis, get your hands on state-of-the-art tools, and practice techniques used in your field.

Your work in a DIS lab can cover a wide variety of topics and models, including wet lab, computer labs, observational research, and fieldwork.

Credits
Most labs are 3-credit courses, though a select few are 1-credit.

Corequisites
Most labs have a co-requisite course which frames the lab and provides a theoretical grounding to lab work and activities.

Browse all Labs and Research options on the Course Finder

Important information for Research Assistantships

All students participating in research at DIS should be aware of application requirements and expectations of you throughout the semester.

Each research course page will have additional information about the lab, further details of the project, and any other important information.

All research positions require you to submit an additional application through the Online Registration portal.

All application materials must be submitted on the following dates by midnight in your time zone:

November 1 for spring semester applicants
May 1 for fall semester applicants

Complete your application through Student Registration.

: In all cases, weekly times are an expected average. There may be peak times in the research process where Research Assistants are expected to spend a few more hours one week, and then possibly fewer hours another week, based on the individual research project and process.

3-credit Research Assistantships

On average, students in a 3-credit RAship spend at least 10 hours a week on research tasks.

These 10 hours per week consist of a variety of different research-related tasks, including conducting a literature review, data collection, analyses, coding, documentation, and meetings with your mentor. You may decide on a particular block of time (consistent each week) for you to carry out the work, or adjust it on a week-by-week basis.

6-credit Research Assistantships

Students in a 6-credit RAship spend an average of 20 hours per week with lab and clinically based research tasks.

You decide the exact meeting and lab times with your supervisor, but your schedule consists of classes at DIS two days a week, with two days a week in the lab.

: Earning authorship within the course of a semester is challenging. Exceptional Research Assistants may be considered for co-authorship, subject to evaluation from the supervising Research Mentor.

Though you may not ultimately become an author on a published paper, you will gain many practical skills and insights into the publication process.