Student Research

No matter which field they explore — science, public policy, social science, the arts or the humanities — our undergraduate and graduate students work side-by-side with world-class scientists and investigators to push the boundaries of innovation.

Fellowships and research initiatives allow students to follow their academic curiosity, whether under the guidance of faculty mentors or pursuing independent projects.


Undergraduate Research Funding & Opportunities

Undergraduate and graduate students can use Student Research Commons to find research positions and other opportunities across disciplines. The website connects students with paid research positions, fellowships, databases of scholarships and funding opportunities, research internships and other for-credit or experiential opportunities.

Not sure where to start? Check out the options listed on this page, and read our guide to finding undergraduate research opportunities.

 

""
Gavin Derleth
 
""

 

"As I became more interested in urban geography in my classes, it was no longer something I felt I could ignore, and so I jumped at the chance to research its implications further."

Gavin Derleth
BA '20, Geography & Political Science


Funding Opportunities for Graduate & Postdoctoral Research

CCAS Dean's Graduate Instructorship

The CCAS Dean’s Graduate Instructorship offers exceptional PhD candidates the unique experience of designing and teaching their own undergraduate seminars in their areas of expertise, while also obtaining financial support for their dissertation research.

The Gamow Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Named after George Gamow, a renowned GW theoretical physicist and early proponent of the Big Bang Theory, the Gamow Postdoctoral Fellowship Program promotes student-faculty research collaborations while addressing the need for greater diversity in the nation’s science community.

Spotlights on Student Research

 

 

First-year students Jocelyn Graham and Bradley Fowler traveled to D.C.’s Chinatown during an assignment for Professor Elizabeth Chacko’s Migrants in the City Dean’s Seminar.

Street Smarts: Geography Class Maps D.C.’s Immigrant Identity

In her Migrants in the City Dean’s Seminar, Geography’s Elizabeth Chacko turns the District into a classroom as students explore urban diversity.

Lucia Kustra

DIG-ging Anthropology: Senior Bridges Labs, Leadership

Lucia Kustra studies primate cultures and leads the next generation of anthropologists as president of the DIG pre-professional fraternity.

Black white and gray image of physics equipment lit up from behind

The Particle Whisperers

GW experimental physicists are pioneering big science at the smallest scale.