Faculty across every department at Ohio State are engaged in groundbreaking research to produce solutions to real-world problems. Ohio State ranks 5th in industry-sponsored research among all U.S. universities. These faculty members are always looking for eager undergraduates to join their teams.
Please see the list of ongoing faculty-led research projects below. We gathered information from participating mentors who are always accepting undergraduate assistance in a variety of fields. You will find a brief description of each project, department, requirements, links to lab websites and applicable contact information. Please note that lab projects may change and some faculty might not require assistance at the moment. We encourage you to still reach out to any opportunities that align with your interests.
Be prepared to compose an email with your statement of interest. Include your resume or CV and list all relevant courses or experiences you have related to the field. For resume help, visit Buckeye Careers. For email etiquette, see the "Etiquette Tips" under the Department of Psychology's Be a Research Assistant page.
If you are a faculty member who wants to share their research information, please submit your project information here. Please email ugresearch@osu.edu if you need to update or remove your research project.
| Project or Lab Name | Area/Department | Description and Requirements | Website | Contact Information |
| Stress and Health Study | Wexner Medical Center | In collaboration with our multidisciplinary team, we focus on identifying the links among immune function, behavior, and overall health. We will use our work to better understand how stress and diet affect health, and how we can intervene to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. | Student and Paid Positions | Stressandhealth@osumc.edu |
| COPPER Lab | Wexner Medical Center | Multidisciplinary collaboration consisting of investigators in thoracic and abdominal transplantation, biochemical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, molecular biology and physiology. Looking for 1st or 2nd year students | COPPER Lab | copperlabassistant@gmail.com |
| Clinical Research @ NCH | Nationwide Children's Hospital | Nationwide Children's Hospital is home to a comprehensive list of clinical research. | NCH Research Areas | Visit each lab website |
| Depression Lab | Psychology | Study the role of cognition in abnormal emotional states. We focus on the role of cognition in the etiology and treatment of depression. | Depression Lab | strunk.20@osu.edu |
| Osteo Engineering | Materials Science and Engineering | Focuses on providing tools for the surgical reconstruction or regeneration of skeletal structures. Students need full-time commitment to a Summer 2023 research project. | Osteo Engineering | david.dean@osumc.edu |
| Center for RNA Biology | Interdisciplinary | RNA research is an interdisciplinary endeavor that spans biology, medicine, agriculture, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. | Center for RNA Biology | Contact Us Page |
| IBMR – Behavioral Medicine | Wexner Medical Center | The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is home to a comprehensive list of behavioral medicine research. | IBMR Labs | Contact Each Lab |
| Translational Data Analytics | Interdisciplinary | A community centered around the theoretical and algorithmic foundation of data science and AI, building connections to the broader data science community in a radial manner. | TDAI Communities of Practice | Qualtrics App |
| Bumgardner Lab | Immunology/Cell Transplant | Adaptive and innate immune mechanisms contributing to cell and organ transplant rejection; regulation of humoral alloimmunity; liver immunology; development of novel biomarkers to predict risk of rejection and development of novel immunotherapies for transplant recipients. | Bumgardner Lab | Collaborators Page |
| EEOB Lab List | Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology | Visit the EEOB Lab page to find a comprehensive list of research labs within the department. | List of Labs | Contact each lab mentor |
| Cancer Clinical Research | Wexner Medical Center - The James | The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is home to a comprehensive list of clinical cancer research. | List of Labs | Contact each lab mentor |
| Lowes Lab - 5000 Baby Project | NCH Gene Therapy & Neuromuscular PT | The 5000 baby project is aimed at identifying neuromuscular disorders in infants and is developing an app to track symptoms. See the application for primary student responsibilities and desired qualifications. | Lowes Lab | 5000 Babies Project Application |
| Mace Lab | Wexner - Translational Tumor Immunology | Focus on translational tumor immunology – discovering new targets and pathways in the tumor microenvironment that can lead to improvements in patient responses to immune-based therapeutics. | Mace Lab | thomas.mace@osumc.edu |
| Language Perception Lab | Psychology | Work in the lab explores the brain mechanisms that are engaged in verbal communication, with a focus on the those that are involved in spoken word recognition. Students are taken on for Psych 4998 | Perception Lab | daly.134@osu.edu |
| Buckeye Language Network | Interdisciplinary @ COSI | This course provides hands-on training in language science outreach at the Center of Science and Industry. Students will work at the Language Pod, the COSI Lab in Life that is devoted to the study of the science of language. | BLN Course Website | wagner.602@osu.edu and register for 5700 course |
| Gschwend Lab | Horticulture and Crop Science | Genetic analysis of environmental stress resilience in crops (Gschwend lab - molecular genetics, plant science, evolution) | Gschwend Lab | gshwend.2@osu.edu |
| Pyter Lab | Institute for Behavioral Medicine | Where behavioral neuroscience meets cancer immunology. Students may need to work with mice | Pyter Lab | leah.pyter@osumc.edu |
| Psychological Cognitive Lab | Otolaryngology | Investigates cognitive development in infants, children and adolescents following pediatric hearing loss. Students need 3.0 GPA or higher, at least second semester freshman, 2 credit hours per semester for at least 2 semesters | Cognitive Lab | Prospective Students App |
| Wu Lab | Chemistry & Biochemistry | Materials innovation for batteries. Ideally students should be Chemistry or Chemical Engineering majors. | Wu Lab | wu.531@osu.edu |
| Nimjee Lab | Neuroscience | Our lab focuses on elucidating the thrombo-inflammatory mechanisms of stroke and developing RNA-based therapies called aptamers to improve outcomes in thrombosis in the brain, heart and periphery. | Neurological Surgery | shahid.nimjee@osumc.edu |
| Immunology Research Lab | Internal Medicine | Prefers freshman with an interest in immunology research. | Dr. Ganesan Biography | latha.ganesan@osumc.edu |
| Weisleder Lab | Physiology and Cell Biology | The Weisleder labo studies several different aspects of skeletal muscle and cardiovascular physiology, principally focusing on changes in plasma membrane repair, cellular metabolism and calcium homeostasis in normal physiology and disease states. | Dr. Weisleder Biography | noah.weisleder@osumc.edu |
| King Lab | Center for Microbial Pathogenesis - Pediatrics | We are looking for students with a focus on microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry or bioinformatics. Ideally students will be sophomores or juniors who are looking to work in a laboratory for several semesters. Must be able to get course credit; STEP students. | Dr. King Biography | samantha.king @nationwidechildrens.org |
| Cruz-Monserrate Lab | Internal Medicine | Focus on studying pancreatic diseases in particular pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) which is one of the most deadly human malignancies, with dismal long-term survival and limited advances in treatment. | Cruz-Monserrate Lab | Online Application |
| Goldberger Group | Materials Chemistry | Materials chemistry lab at The Ohio State University whose major focus is to design new materials for next-generation electronics and devices, catalysis, and medical diagnostics and therapeutics. Strong preference for Chemistry majors. | Goldberger Group | goldberger.4@osu.edu |
| Burd Lab | Molecular Genetics | Mechanisms to prevent melanoma and improve outcomes in older adults with cancer | Burd Lab | burd.25@osu.edu |
| Cold War Superheroes and National Security (1950s-1980s) | History | Seeking one or more motivated students with analytical skills, eye for detail, and willing suspension of disbelief. You will be reading comics (mostly Marvel, with some additional also-rans no longer under copyright) and coding the major themes of stories to track how superhero fiction channeled Cold War anxieties and popular conceptions of U.S. power. Copies of the comics will be accessible as digital files, and work can be done remotely for 1-3 credits depending on student commitment and availability. | History Department Research Opportunities | parrott.36@osu.edu |
| Yoon Lab | Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology | The lab studies many aspects of Alzheimer's disease, including therapeutic approaches. Students will have hands-on experience and participate in paper discussions of current literature. Prefer students who can work in Summer and Honors Students. | Dr. Yoon Biography | sung.yoon@osumc.edu |
| Mykytyn Lab | Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology | The research goals are to define the roles of primary cilia in cellular function and disease pathogenesis. | Dr. Mykytyn Biography | mykytyn.1@osu.edu |
| Develop fast tools for matrix calculations subject to positivity constraints. | Mathematics | Some goals are a fast algorithm and implementation thereof for efficiently describing the intersection of the null space of a matrix with the set of all vectors with non-negative components; here "efficiently describing" means find the set of all extremal vectors of length 1 bounding this intersection. Ideally, the student can program (or learn to program) in a computational environment (e.g. Julia, Python/Numpy/Cython) and has a basic understanding of finite-dimensional linear algebra. | Mathematics Research Postings | krishnan.118@osu.edu |
| Experiment with certain extensions of a constructive logic used in automated reasoning. | Mathematics | Evaluate various proposed extensions of a recent dependent type theory useful for proving certain assertions in topology. These extensions purport to make HOTT useful for reasoning about real-world dynamical systems, and in particular establish foundations for secure protocols in cybersecurity. Ideally, the student has some basic experience programming and has seen either some logic or topology. | Mathematics Research Postings | krishnan.118@osu.edu |
| Askwith Lab: pH-dependent regulation of neuronal death and signaling | Neuroscience | The goal of the Askwith Lab is to understand the mechanism of ASIC activation in vivo and determine how ASICs affects synaptic physiology. | No Website | askwith.1@osu.edu |
| Child Emotion Lab | Human Sciences | Study developmental changes in children’s emotional and cognitive regulation and the impact of parenting and other factors in the family context. | Child Emotion Lab | Online Application |
| Environmental Surface and Colloid Processes Laboratory | Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering | Research is directed at elucidating the fundamental physical and chemical mechanisms that determine the fate of chemical compounds in natural and engineered systems. | Lab Homepage | lenhart.49@osu.edu |
| Rafael-Fortney Lab, Therapeutic approaches for muscular dystrophy | Physiology & Cell Biology | Identify novel treatment strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a disease that affects both skeletal muscles and the heart. Sophomores only; Commitment to ~10 hrs/week during academic year and 30+ hrs per week during the summers | Dr. Rafael-Fortney Biography | rafael-fortney.1@osu.edu |
| Valdes Aguilar THz Laboratory | Physics | Interest in condensed matter or materials physics. Interest in learning advanced quantum physics. Ability or interest to program (any language) is desired. | THz Lab | valdesaguilar.1@osu.edu |
| William E Carson III Lab | Comprehensive Cancer Center | Leads to a better understanding of how the immune system responds to cancer and how to use this information to devise new treatments for patients with melanoma, breast cancer and other malignancies. Experimental results are translated into phase I and II clinical trials that are conducted at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. | Carson Lab | william.carson@osumc.edu |
| Electronic Materials and Nanostructures Lab | Electrical & Computer Engineering and Physics | The group focuses on identifying, manipulating, and controlling atomic-scale defects in electronic materials including, but not limited to thin films, nanowires, and quantum dots. | Brillson Group | brillson.1@osu.edu |
| Anderson Lab | Microbiology, Microbial Infection and Immunity | Anderson Lab is interested in how genetic diversity contributes to variation in species populations. Please reach out at least a month or two before your | Anderson Lab | anderson.3196@osu.edu |
| Social Determinants of Health - Cancer | School of Environment and Internal Medicine | See Kerry Ard biography | Dr. Ard Biography | ard.7@osu.edu |
| OSU Aquaculture Laboratory | SENR ; CFAES | See Konrad Dabrowski biography | Dr. Dabrowski Biography | dabrowski.1@osu.edu |
| David Mackey Lab | Horticulture and Crop Science; Molecular Genetics | See David Mackey biography | Dr. Mackey Biography | mackey.86@osu.edu |
| Bundschuh lab (Computational Biophysics and Genomics) | Physics | Application of methods from Statistical Physics to solve problems of biological relevance. Students should have good programming skills (it is not that important in which languages, but we use mostly python, C, and R) and be excited about/interested in learning about molecular Biology. | Dr. Bundschuh Biography | bundschuh.2@osu.edu |
| Integrated Computational Materials Engineering for Welding | Materials Science and Engineering | Combines welding engineering and computational modeling. Background in materials and mechanics desired | ICME-W Lab | zhang.3978@osu.edu |
| Venere Lab | Radiation Oncology | We study adult and pediatric brain tumors as well as neurodevelopment using cell and molecular biology as well as mouse models. Ideally, students would be able to continue research during the summer. | Venere Lab | monica.venere@osumc.edu |
| Summers Lab | Radiation Oncology | The Summers lab focuses its research on the control of genome stability | Summers Lab | matthew.summers@osumc.edu |
| Inclusive Peer Interactions Project | Educational Studies | Research assistants will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on research about implicit bias and special education. Interested RAs can also participate in the analysis and dissemination of the research, including writing manuscripts and preparing conference presentations at the local and national level. This is an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing graduate studies. Research assistant (RA) responsibilities for the Peer Interactions study may involve direct interaction with participants including recruiting, scheduling visits, preparation, and cleanup, data entry, assessment scoring, behavioral coding, and administrative work. Prior to completing study tasks, RAs are expected to complete assigned trainings and observations (e.g., CITI training, training to fidelity on administration/coding of assessments, etc.). RAs will work closely with and under the supervision of the study Principal Investigators. Please submit a cover letter and resume to Dr. Carly Gilson | Dr. Carly Gilson | gilson.78@osu.edu |
| Changing the Landscape for Adolescent Health in Central Ohio | Educational Studies | Students must have access to transportation in order to collect data in local schools; we reimburse for mileage costs. | No website | allsop.8@buckeyemail.osu.edu |
| Ranganathan Lab, Transplant Immunology | CCC/Hematology/Bone Marrow Transplant | Interest in immunology desired | Ranganathan Lab Website | Parvathi.Ranganathan@osumc.edu and Malith.Karunasiri@osumc.edu |
| Hester Lab: Neurodevelopmental Disease Research | Nationwide Children's Hospital: Institute for Genomic Medicine | Students should have reliable transportation, great communication skills, and a desire to learn! | Dr. Mark E Hester Biography | Send an email to alecia.biel@nationwidechildrens.org |
| Tso Lab | Psychiatry: conducts research investigating how the brain processes social information and how these processes are affected in psychiatric populations, especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. | Not currently accepting students for Fall/Spring 24-25, but check back later to apply. Accepts Sophomores and Juniors. May sign up for PSYBHLH 4998. Undergraduate RAs are expected to complete 8 to 9 hours of work a week for the semester. | Ivy Tso Lab | Download application form and email kelly.mathis@osumc.edu |