Undergraduate

The Undergraduate Scholars Program at MSU is the primary resource for undergraduates interested in participating in research. The Undergraduate Scholars Program offers research grant funding, offers travel grants for students, promotes opportunities for students to present their projects to the MSU and Bozeman communities by coordinating the annual Student Research Celebration and Student Research Month events, promotes opportunities for students to present their projects to a national audience by providing funding and travel coordination for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), and provides training and support for students interested in getting started with undergraduate research.

Engineering and computer science undergraduates are also encouraged to talk with their advisors, professors and other faculty members. Some arrangements, including paid student positions for conducting research, are made informally according to student interest.

Many undergraduate engineering students also participate in the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, which is a summer exchange program. MSU students can participate in the REU program at MSU or at another institution, and REU opportunities are available at MSU for students from other universities. REU opportunities are coordinated primarily through the individual departments.

MSU's Empower program offers support and guidance for women and underrepresented minorities to get involved in research in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Graduate

The Graduate School at MSU is the primary resource for graduate students to find funding and fellowships that support research activities.

The engineering college offers several Ph.D. fellowships made possible by the generosity of the William Benjamin Estate Gift. Mr. Benjamin's donation provides for up to three annual fellowships to new Ph.D. students in any discipline of engineering or computer science. The award provides a total stipend of $25,000 to the student for their first year of PhD study. Learn more about the Benjamin Fellowship.

Many faculty members in the engineering college provide graduate research assistantships. Prospective or current students interested in an assistantship should contact the department of interest. Learn more on the college's graduate programs webpage.

Faculty

The Office of Sponsored Programs at MSU is the main resource for faculty engaged in research. OSP manages all functions related to any activity, research or otherwise, that is funded by an external source such as a federal, state, or private organization. The OSP staff assumes all financial, reporting, compliance, auditing and related tasks in a proactive spirit that alleviates the administrative workload for researchers so that they may focus on research. OSP offers a Principal Investigator Guide, PI trainings, information about finding funding, an MSU Research Network, and more.

The engineering college initiated the Thorson Excellence in Engineering Research (TEER) Grants Program in 2017 through the generosity of Donald R. Thorson. Mr. Thorson’s gift of $2.7 million has been set up as an endowment with yearly awards of $100,000 given to support MSU COE research objectives. Each year, faculty will have the opportunity to submit a TEER Grant proposal for evaluation by Dean Gunnink and college leadership.