Interested in research?
Find your path...
Students who engage in undergraduate research often find invaluable experience that assists them in choosing a career path, improving their likelihood of success in the workforce, and in applying for graduate school. Students are always encouraged to submit their original work to a variety of undergraduate journals and conference presentations as a means of engaging with, and contributing to, the field of sociological research.
We also encourage undergraduates to reach out to faculty members within their research
interest areas to seek mentoring. Our Sociology advisor can also provide further resources
and contacts.
AACS Client Problem Solving Competition
Emphasizing the value of undergraduate research, each year the department sends a team of undergraduates with a department sponsor to the Association for Applied & Clinical Sociology (AACS) conference hosted in various U.S. cities annually. At the conference, students take part in a competition where using the applied skills they learn in sociology, as well as research and insights they gather from sociologists and practitioners in attendance, to solve a problem faced by a local agency.
This opportunity gives the students a chance to apply what they've learned in the
classroom to a real world problem, experience in teamwork and time management, and
serves as a valuable networking and conference opportunity for the next generation
of practicing social scientists. In the past, the student team has taken home several
awards, including the first place prize in 2019. We encourage those who'd like to
take part in this opportunity to express interest to our undergraduate advisor.
"after going to presentations and speaking with experts in the area we determined the best way we could tackle this issue was by emphasizing the importance of building communities for people who are often very detached from the society around them. It was great to represent OSU so far from home and I felt very fortunate to be part of such a fantastic team."
2019 CPSC Team Member
Funding Opportunities
- Federal Grant Opportunities
Federal Grants support critical educational, research, outreach, development and recovery initiatives, and a multitude of other programs. On Grants.gov you will find all the funding opportunities from the 26 federal agencies that award grants.
- National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress and is the funding source for approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. The agency employs a peer review system to evaluate proposals and award grants to investigators.
FIND OUT MORE - National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health also employs a peer review system of scientists, physicians, and other experienced individuals from around the world to evaluate the merit of proposed research and its potential to advance science.
- Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology
The Oklahoma Applied Research Support program helps universities, private research institutions and businesses fund cutting-edge research with the goal of growing Oklahoma's economy by creating more higher-wage jobs, starting new businesses and developing innovation to help advance existing industry.
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Foundation brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines to investigate issues that will help inform policy and practice.
- The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Foundation makes grants to support original research and broad-based education related to science, technology, and economic performance; and to improve the quality of American life. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is interested in projects that it expects will result in a strong benefit to society, and for which funding from the private sector, the government, or other foundations is not widely available.
- The Ford Foundation
The Foundation has a commitment to investing in institutions, individuals, and ideas reflecting our belief that social change is best served by a strong, diverse community of people dedicated to advancing human dignity and challenging inequality.
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides grants for projects in the United States and U.S. territories that advance our mission to improve the health and health care of all Americans.
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The Rockefeller Foundation
For more than a century, the Rockefeller Foundation has been dedicated to a single mission: promoting the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Through our portfolio of initiatives, we strive to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, convene sector-spanning partnerships, and create systemic change to benefit poor and vulnerable people around the world.
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The Foundation's programs have ambitious goals that include: helping to reduce global poverty, limiting the risk of climate change, improving education for students, improving reproductive health and rights worldwide, supporting vibrant performing arts in our community, advancing the field of philanthropy, and supporting disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- William T. Grant Foundation
This grants program supports theory-building and empirical research projects on reducing inequality or improving the use of research evidence. Currently, the Foundation funds research that increases our understanding of: 1) the programs, policies, and practices that reduce inequality in youth outcomes, and 2) how policymakers and practitioners acquire, interpret, and use research evidence.
- The Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) places the optimal development of children at the center of all we do and calls for healing the profound racial gaps and inequities that exist in our communities. WKKF believes in supporting and building upon the mindsets, methods and modes of change that hold promise to advance children's best interests generally, and those of vulnerable children in particular.
- The Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Foundation is devoted to developing a brighter future for millions of children at risk of poor educational, economic, social and health outcomes. Our work focuses on strengthening families, building stronger communities and ensuring access to opportunity, because children need all three to succeed.