Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research for Credit
The Rutgers Industrial and Systems Engineering Department provides undergraduates with an opportunity to earn credits for research. Undergraduates participating in research courses can use the credits to satisfy Technical Electives.  A research course is an individual research project under the guidance of a faculty adviser in a specific area of Industrial or Systems Engineering. Interdisciplinary cooperation encouraged where applicable. Projects may be one or two semesters in length.

Fall Classes
14:540:293 Undergraduate Research for Sophomores
14:540:393 Undergraduate Research for Juniors
14:540:493 Undergraduate Research for Seniors             

Spring Classes
14:540:294 Undergraduate Research for Sophomores
14:540:394 Undergraduate Research for Juniors
14:540:494 Undergraduate Research for Seniors

Students receive a standard letter grade (e.g., A, B+, B, C+, C, etc.) for the research.

Credits are arranged with the supervising faculty; corresponding to hours spent in research, typically equivalent to 45-89 hours (1 credit), 90-134 hours (2 credits), 135+ hours (3 credits).

Applying
Students interested in research for credit should contact a prospective faculty member before the term starts to inquire about available research opportunities for credit. The student may be asked to submit a specific proposal outlining research objectives, scope of work, schedule, and deliverables

Get Permission to Register
Once students obtain permission from the instructor, the department issues a Special Permission Number allowing the student to register for a specific course section.

Max Credits
Students earn credit for a maximum of two technical electives, or a maximum of 6 credits applied towards their degree, for any combination of Internship/ Co-Op experience and Research credits. 

Requirements
At a minimum, students deliver a poster presentation at a research forum or scheduled event. Other deliverables may be assigned by the faculty, such as an experiment, technical report, technical paper or technical presentation.  There are usually no exams associated with the research course.