The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), founded in 1978, is a national organization of individual and institutional members representing more than 900 colleges and universities. CUR and its affiliated colleges, universities, and individuals share a focus on providing undergraduate research opportunities for faculty and students at all institutions serving undergraduate students. CUR believes that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduates in research. CUR’s leadership works with agencies and foundations to enhance research opportunities for faculty and students. CUR provides support for faculty development. Its publications and outreach activities are designed to share successful models and strategies for establishing and institutionalizing undergraduate research programs. The organization assists administrators and faculty members in improving and assessing the research environment at their institutions. CUR also provides information on the importance of undergraduate research to state legislatures, private foundations, government agencies, and the U.S. Congress. CUR welcomes faculty and administrators from all academic institutions. Its primary advocacy is in support of faculty and undergraduate students engaged in research. CUR achieves its vision through efforts of its membership as organized in a divisional structure that includes arts and humanities, biology, chemistry, geosciences, health sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, physics and astronomy, psychology, social sciences, an at-large division that serves administrators and other disciplines, and a division for directors of undergraduate research programs.

Definition of Undergraduate Research: An inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.