Undergraduate Research

At McDaniel College, undergraduate research is driven by student learning, a focus that means you'll get meaningful opportunities to contribute to your field early in your academic career. To help develop your skills, our faculty design cutting-edge research projects that are meaningful to the academic community while immersing students in challenging, genuine investigations.

Undergraduate research occurs in all majors and with the oversight of full-time faculty. You'll emerge from your research experience empowered and with professional and academic skills designed to help you stand out in applications for jobs or graduate school.

Explore Majors The McDaniel Commitment

A student in a lab coat uses a pipette in front of a lab fume hood.

Biology Labs

overseen by Biology faculty on campus.

8-10

Weeks Each Summer

length of Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research program.

Chemistry Labs

led by Chemistry faculty on campus.

50-60

Students Participate

in the Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program.

The Capstone Experience

A capstone experience is a requirement of all McDaniel students. Typically defined as "a culminating experience in which students are expected to integrate special studies with the major, and extend, critique, and apply knowledge gained in their major" (Wagenaar, 1993), your capstone showcases your knowledge and your critical thinking. Adding an element of cohesion to your four years of study, capstone experiences vary by major and demonstrate your mastery of your discipline. Capstones might include an original screenplay in Cinema, a gallery show in Art, or a field placement in Social Work.

Check out our capstone video playlist to learn what kinds of topics Green Terrors investigate.

Our Research Philosophy

We understand that one of the best ways you can learn is by actively engaging in your academic curriculum through hands-on experiences. It's why experiential learning is at the heart of the McDaniel Commitment. It's also why our undergraduate research program centers around helping you apply what you've learned in a new context: One where you're advancing the knowledge of your discipline with a faculty member right there alongside you.

Recent examples of research completed by students in partnership with faculty include:

Identifying High Value and At-Risk Habitat in the Lokop Megafauna Sanctuary, Sumatra (Environmental Studies)
Program and Control: Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch,” Coercive Communication, and Utilizing Disbelief (English)
The effect of a household surfactant on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Chemistry)
Who is Pappas? (Art)
Waring’s problem in Quaternion rings (Math & Computer Science)
Digital History: Water, Foods, and Ecology around Hangzhou Bay, 1600s-1870s (History)
Preferences of the invasive spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) among potential host plants (Biology)
Prospective Memory and Collaborative Research Project Collection (Psychology)
Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of LpxC Inhibitors as Antibiotics Against Gram-Negative Bacteria (Chemistry)

Present Your Research at a Conference!

McDaniel faculty support students in identifying and attending conferences. Students conducting research in various subject areas have recently presented their projects at these regional and national conferences:

Maryland Collegiate Honors Conference
Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference
American Chemical Society Conference

Chemistry faculty and students at the Spring 2024 American Chemical Society Conference
Intercollegiate Student Chemist’s Convention
Maryland Water Monitoring Council’s Annual Conference
Association for Applied Sport Psychology Conference
Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, and the Entomological Society of British Columbia Joint Annual Meeting
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences Conference
ResearchEd Conference
Lycoming Undergraduate Humanities Research Conference
MIT IEEE Undergraduate Research Technology Conference
MathFest (Mathematical Association of America)

Special Opportunities

A research student watches while their McDaniel professor works in a garden.

Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program

Each summer, students interested in undergraduate research are selected to participate in the Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program. This 8-10 week research experiences places students in small research teams and supports them in conducting intensive research projects. Notably, students receive free housing and meals as well as a $1000 stipend over the duration of the program to ensure that personal economics don't prevent accepted students from participation.

Photo of a Black student in front of a projector screen speaking to a classroom of people.

Annual Academic Symposium

Each spring, students are invited to present their research, showcase their creative works, or share their internship experiences at our annual Academic Symposium. This opportunity to present their work to the community, including family members and friends, helps prepare students to discuss their work with future employers and graduate school admission committees. It hones their ability to present and engage with the general public, communication skills that are necessary for the future.

Two female students sit in front of laptops at a table and lecturer Alexander Champoux-Crowley looks down at one of their screens.

Independent Studies

At McDaniel, students can take the lead in their own research interests. By connecting with faculty in a relevant discipline, students can pursue focused research interests during the semester. With the college's commitment to educating in the liberal arts, independent studies can be conducted in all disciplines, from Art to Environmental Studies, and beyond.

Our Facilities No Need to Compromise: Research Labs & Facilities Opportunities for You

Professor holding pigeon in the pigeon lab speaking with students.

On Campus Animal Lab McDaniel College Pigeon Lab Research & Training

Many students worry that by attending a small college, they won't have access to cutting-edge labs or animal research studies that are hallmarks of large research universities. At McDaniel, you'll have the chance to engage in high-level animal research, including on-campus at our pigeon lab, where choice and decision-making are researched through a study of pigeon behavior.

Learn About Psychology

Professor with students in research lab.

Bringing Class to Life Hands-On Science Labs Distinguish Yourself

The research labs in our science programs provide you an opportunity to use cutting-edge equipment while you hone your curiosity and develop your academic independence through research. In addition to forming close bonds with the faculty overseeing the research, you will also develop strong relationships with your fellow students as part of a dedicated research team.

How Student Research Advances a Field Read about Equity and Inclusion in the Lab

A student and professor pose outside in a garden while wearing gardening gloves.

Students support global and local communities in the Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program

Every summer, McDaniel students make strides in their academic and professional savvy with the donor-funded Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program. By engaging with pressing issues — like contributing data to a global study on insect declines or surveying Maryland high school educators about current challenges — they gain skills that serve their communities now and in the future.

Read "Students support global and local communities in the Student-Faculty Collaborative Summer Research Program"

Header from the Westminster Detective Library website

Not Just for the Sciences The Westminster Detective Library Research in the Humanities

It's a common misconception that research occurs only in the science programs, but high-level faculty and student research happens in every discipline at McDaniel. Just one example is the work that occurs at the Westminster Detective Library. The Westminster Detective Library seeks to catalog and make available online all the short fiction dealing with detectives and detection published in the United States before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891). Each year, students work closely with English faculty on the project that contributes to the canon of detective fiction.

See the Library

Two students in a lab look at a computer screen at a microscope image.

A legacy of research A Decade of Collaboration, Transformation, and Growth The Huang lab celebrates 10 years of Biology research

When Cheng Huang joined the McDaniel faculty in 2012, the associate professor of Biology launched his research lab with a goal of creating transformational opportunities for undergraduate students. Since then, ambitious Biology students have honed their skills with summertime experiments in the Huang lab. In June 2022, alumni returned to share their insights with current student researchers on how Huang’s lab and classes prepared them for Ph.D. and medical school programs.

Read "A Decade of Collaboration, Transformation, and Growth"

Become Strong Kinesiology student lifting weights

Kinesiology’s new labs and classrooms open in Gill Center

The newly renovated Gill Center bustles with activity. After all, this is the epicenter of McDaniel’s study of movement — the place Kinesiology students and faculty alike call home. Three classrooms, three labs, nine faculty offices and a seminar room were newly built inside Gill Center to support a program that prepares students for careers as health professionals, coaches, athletic trainers, physical education teachers, personal trainers and others whose work centers on the science of physical activity and movement.

Everything you learn at McDaniel College connects you to real life. Kinesiology student Isabella researched the effects of strength training on self-esteem in untrained females.

Professor Stephanie Madsen on researching imaginary athletes, the psychology of play

Stephanie Madsen, professor of Psychology, published a study on the phenomenon of imaginary athletes, inspired by her class The Power of Play. In this Q&A, Madsen shares how psychology and play intersect, plus how she teaches students to make real-world connections.
Annual Academic Symposium showcases the liberal arts in action

McDaniel's Academic Symposium on Monday, May 5, highlights the original research, scholarship, and creative achievements of McDaniel students, faculty, and staff. Plus, two special events take place including a Community Networking Breakfast & Presentation of the Phi Beta Kappa Lifelong Learner Award and a Keynote Lunch with McDaniel College Budapest Professor Gábor Molnár (advance registration is required for both the breakfast and lunch events).
Finding health care solutions with sociology

Assistant Professor of Sociology Daniel Boches and sophomore Kaiya Mayhew co-authored an article published in The American Sociologist proposing solutions to increase malpractice reporting among health care practitioners. In March, Mayhew presented the research at the 2025 Eastern Sociological Society Conference in Boston.