For Northwestern undergraduates seeking to do research, funding flows through multiple channels. Options include University grants, programs within specific schools and campus institutes. The funding a student can access varies depending on which school they’re enrolled in and their interests.

Office of Undergraduate Research

One of the largest sources of funding comes from the Office of Undergraduate Research, housed in the Office of the Provost. The office distributes roughly $1.5 million annually to students from all schools.

The Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant is the largest lump-sum ticket item, providing $10,000 to one student each year to research the topic of their choice over the summer. The Office of Undergraduate Research also runs the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program and the Emerging Scholars Program, a funded track for first-year students in the arts, humanities, journalism and social sciences.

Beyond that, campus institutions fund undergraduate research, and each school provides its own opportunities with varied funding philosophies.

Campus Institutes

Campus institutes add another layer of funding that operates independently of school affiliation. 

In November 2025, NU alumna Roberta Buffett Elliott announced an $11.8 million gift to expand undergraduate global education through the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

The gift builds on her 2015 founding gift of $101 million that established the institute and supports a portfolio of six undergraduate programs. Opportunities include the Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which provides up to $4,150 over the summer and following academic year and two International Senior Thesis Research Grants offering up to $6,000 for eight weeks of summer research abroad and up to $3,000 for travel during the academic year.

Additionally, the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities awards the $3,000 Franke Undergraduate Fellowship to humanities students pursuing senior projects.

University Libraries also funds a dedicated annual Summer Undergraduate Research Grant worth $4,000 and launched the Undergraduate Archival Research Project Prize in 2025, which awarded its inaugural winner $1,500 and $500 to the runner-up.

McCormick School of Engineering

McCormick students have access to the highest school-specific summer stipend at Northwestern. 

The McCormick Summer Research Award provides up to $5,000 to students conducting faculty-mentored projects. Individual departments run additional programs on top of this award, including the Biomedical Engineering Department’s $5,400 Summer Undergraduate Research Award.

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

Weinberg is the only school that runs a full parallel grant system, offered to students who do not receive university grants through the Office of Undergraduate Research. 

Through the Baker Program in Undergraduate Research, Weinberg students can apply for funding year-round and for travel reimbursements—programs that mirror the university’s offerings but are restricted to Weinberg students.

Baker also routes a layer of awards funded by alumni. These include the $4,000 Katherine L. Krieghbaum Scholarships for senior research and the Posner Summer Fellowship Program for first-generation and lower-income students earlier in their academic careers — typically rising sophomores — which includes free on-campus housing during the eight-week research period and grants to research environmental subjects.

School of Communication

The School of Communication builds infrastructure around research experience rather than offering large independent research stipends. 

For example, the school runs the first-year Early Research Experience Awards, which pair Human Communication Sciences and Communication Studies majors with faculty mentors. Experiential Learning Grants cover research, travel and conferences for students with demonstrated financial need.

School of Education and Social Policy

SESP focuses primarily on expense reimbursement rather than stipends. The school’s Undergraduate Research Fund is designed to cover project costs such as data acquisition, equipment, and travel.

The range of work these grants support is wide. Grants from summer 2024 alone show the Office of Undergraduate Research funding projects from metal selection for lunar inflatables to the impact of digital nomadism on communities. Buffett-funded senior thesis research in 2024-25 sent students to Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Guam.

NU continues to navigate budget pressures from last year’s federal funding freeze, which cost the University approximately $350 million in internal support before funding was restored in late 2025.

Some programs, like the Lurie Cancer Center’s Undergraduate Summer Research Internships, were canceled during the freeze and have not been publicly confirmed to return. For now, students will continue to have access to a variety of sources at both the school and institutional level.

Email: [email protected] 

Related Stories:

— ASG allocates over $13,700 in funding to 10 student organizations 

— Northwestern undergraduates explore research through grant opportunities 

— Northwestern undergraduate students share a behind-the-scenes look getting involved with research