Research Opportunities

Aspiring Scientists Program (ASSIP) 
Mason’s ASSIP provides high school juniors, seniors and college undergraduates interested in exploring science and medicine the opportunity to work alongside the university’s faculty researchers. Participants spend eight 40-hour weeks at Mason’s Science and Technology and Fairfax campuses working on real-world science projects related to global challenges such as cancer, HIV, biodefense and climate change. 

College of Science Undergraduate Research Colloquium
The College of Science and STEM Accelerator invite undergraduate students to participate in the Annual Undergraduate Research Colloquium (URC).  The purpose of this event is to showcase the variety of undergraduate research projects in the College to the Mason community.  All students engaged in undergraduate research at any level in any academic unit within the College of Science are encouraged to participate.

OSCAR Celebration of Student Scholarship
Each year, OSCAR celebrates the work of Mason undergraduate students who represent colleges and programs across the university. This is a great way to showcase your work to the entire campus. 

OSCAR Research Assistants (OSCAR RAs) – Federal Work-Study
The Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR) and Mason Impact have coordinated with the Office of Student Financial Aid to use Federal Work-study aid to fund undergraduate research assistants for faculty and staff. See available work-study opportunities on Handshake. 

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Summer 2021: Online Interdisciplinary Big Data Analytics in Science and Engineerings
This Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program will provide 8-week summer online research experiences to undergraduates on how to utilize modern data
science and high performance computing (HPC) techniques to process and analyze big data in many science and engineering disciplines such as Atmospheric Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Medicine. Each participant who successfully finishes the program and completes all requirements will receive $5,000 stipend and support to conference traveling to present his/her research.

Summer Team Impact Project (STIP)
Summer Team Impact Projects tackle global questions and challenges within all three areas of Mason impact.  Faculty present a question to a team of undergraduate students who work throughout the summer to create a solution and then present their findings, their action plan, or their prototype to the Mason community.

Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP)
This program pairs high achieving undergraduate students with faculty mentors to undertake original research or creative projects. It provides each scholar with a stipend for the semester or summer to enable them to participate in a research project and funds to the faculty mentor to cover materials, such as posters, lab supplies, and equipment.

Graduate Assistantship
Assistantships are available at the Masters and Doctoral levels and are compensated according to the unit’s established rates for the contracted responsibilities. Position responsibilities, time commitment, and compensation will vary by department and position.

Graduate Student Appointments and Fellowships
Graduate assistantships and lectureships provide a supervised opportunity for Mason students to gain experience in their field of study through teaching, research, or professional career preparation.

Three Minute Thesis
3MT® is a research communication competition where PhD students present their doctoral research to a non-specialist audience using only one single visual aid—all in three minutes. This exercise encourages graduate students to think about their research from an outsider’s perspective, hones their presentation skills, and provides a forum for a cross-disciplinary exchange of exciting ideas and information.

NSF I-Corps Site Program
The NSF I-Corps is a program aimed at teaching university researchers the process for moving a university research discovery towards commercialization.