By Elizabeth Erbeznik, ISA Curriculum Specialist, Academic Affairs
Would you rather peer through a microscope in a research lab or gaze through a camera lens in front of world-famous monuments? Do you want to collect data or would you rather collect travel mementos? Still struggling to decide whether you want to add a research or study abroad experience to your resume or graduate school applications?
You can do both!
Undertaking an undergraduate research experience does not mean that you have to put away your passport and defer your plans to study abroad. With a little planning, you can gain valuable experience in your academic field while participating in a study abroad program at a variety of locations around the world.
Different research possibilities through ISA include:
- Summer or Semester options
- Research-only or Research + coursework
- Research for academic credit or not for credit
Research courses through ISA host universities
University of Auckland (Auckland, New Zealand)
ISA’s Undergraduate Research program at the University of Auckland allows students to participate in a 6-week summer research project in Communications, International Relations, Media Studies, and Psychology.
Sample projects include:
- WhyWeMarch.film (documentary)
- Invasive Species: Conceptual Debates and their Implications for Conservation and Public Dialogue
Students who participate on this program will get academic credit for their research. This program is only offered during the summer and students will focus exclusively on their research projects.
Universidad del Norte (Barranquilla, Colombia)
Students studying at the Universidad del Norte during the semester or summer programs can enroll in a 4-credit research course in a variety of academic fields. Research participants will be assigned a faculty mentor with whom they will work to complete their project.
Students must be at the high-beginning Spanish level (typically defined as one semester of college-level Spanish) in order to enroll in the research course. The research project can be completed in either English or Spanish.
Past projects include:
- Creating Synthetic Diamonds: Microalgae Lab Research
- The Effect of Historical Violence on Business Operations on the Colombian Coast
ISA Internships
An ISA Research Internship provides students the opportunity to join an ongoing research project, contributing to existing projects at various stages of the research process. Research-based placements are typically at universities abroad, but interns could also be placed in the private business sector or at research centers. ISA internships are typically 8 weeks in duration and participating students can opt to receive academic credit.
Sample ISA Internship research placements include:
- Biomedical Research (Santiago, Chile)
- Political Science Internship (Dublin, Ireland)
EuroScholars
EuroScholars is a research-intensive study abroad program designed for advanced undergraduate students. The program combines a study abroad experience with the opportunity to join a research team in an ongoing investigation at an internationally renowned European research university.
Placements are semester-long and the majority of academic credits received for the program will be for research. Students will also take a language and culture course onsite. Additional coursework may be available, depending on availability at the host university.
Sample research projects include:
- Cultural Memory and Transmediality: The Representation of Trauma in Comics, Graphic Novels, Film and Documentaries (Leuven, Belgium)
- Sleep and Emotion Regulation in Humans: A Brain Imaging Approach (Geneva, Switzerland)
A full list of available EuroScholars research projects is available online.
Reach out to ISA if you have any questions about which of these options might best fit your research and study abroad goals.
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