Student Research

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The faculty at Belmont University actively encourage undergraduate involvement in research.

Although Belmont is primarily a teaching institution rather than a research university, the skills required to conduct psychological research are at the core of what makes psychology a unique discipline.

Certain skills are necessary in order to perform any type of research. Skills such as organizing diverse information, critically evaluating evidence, developing convincing arguments, and presenting complicated information in an understandable way are required to conduct relevant research.

Many graduate schools require that students have had research experience at the undergraduate level. Even if you do not plan to go to graduate school, the critical thinking skills learned in research activities are invaluable for coping with our complex, information rich world.

There are many ways to become involved in research in your four years at Belmont University. By taking statistics and Research Methods I in your freshman and sophomore years, you will be prepared to develop your own research project in your junior and senior years. This can be done either in classes such as Research Methods II, Senior Seminar, and any upper level psychology course, or as an independent project with a professor. In any case, you can get more out of these experiences than just a grade. For example, Belmont students have won regional and national awards for their research. They have also published their research with their faculty mentors in professional peer-reviewed journals.

There are numerous opportunities to present your research at local, regional and national conferences. The Science Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall and the annual university-wide Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium in the spring provide an excellent forum for sharing your ideas with others, and your participation in these events will look impressive on your graduate school application.

Students have also had the opportunity to travel and present their research at regional conferences outside the Southeastern region and at national conferences.

If you are interested in seeing what research some of our students have done, you can access the programs from the Belmont University Undergraduate Research Symposium (BURS), the Middle Tennessee Psychology Association (MTPA), the Psychology Undergraduate Research Symposium (PURS), and the Science Undergraduate Research Symposium (SURS).

Belmont Undergraduate Research Symposium

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