Dakota State University students walking around campus

Preparation + opportunity = success

That's the DSU equation. We're a four-year university with nationally recognized programs, cutting-edge facilities, and the brightest thinkers. But we're also a tight-knit, inclusive community. Small class sizes mean hands-on training and individualized attention. All this with an affordable, public school price that's among the best values in the region.

Majors & Degrees

Undergraduate Research

Explore your ideas in a world brimming with limitless discoveries at DSU.

Research students gathered around a computer.

Our unique opportunities allow students to work with faculty to produce original contributions to the knowledge or activity of a particular academic discipline. Our mission is to establish services and programs that support students and faculty mentors in their pursuit of inquiry, creativity, scholarship, and research.

We encourage you to become involved in undergraduate research and scholarship, no matter what year you may be in your program. It takes time, effort, and collaboration to discover a research project, so the sooner you start the better! 

As a researcher, you’ll divulge in experiences that lead you to new knowledge, improve your ability to solve problems, think critically, result in new theory, create new art, or artistic performances. Faculty members are also at your service, as they will work closely with you or monitor your milestones throughout your research process.

Interested? We thought you might be!

To get started, follow these steps:

  • Find a subject that interests you – was there anything in your classes that left you wanting more? Was there a topic you enjoyed learning about?
  • Find a faculty mentor – make an appointment with faculty members and share your idea(s), prepare for your meeting by outlining your idea and your question, ask for advice and guidance
  • Identify funding opportunities – brainstorm with your mentor to identify grants, awards, or scholarships that may benefit your project
  • Develop a plan of action – including goals, steps, timelines, budgets, and objectives
  • Attend the annual DSU Research Symposium – every March or April, we host a research fair; plan to attend or present
  • Have fun! – your research is an invaluable investment in your education and future career. Having fun throughout the process will make it even more memorable

Expanding upon research

undergraduate student researcher

As a researcher, you can enhance your learning and critical thinking, develop an understanding of research methodology, improve collaborative working skills, explore and expand areas of interest, build communication skills, and develop other numerous skills that will play an important role in your career.

Every spring, we host the DSU Research Symposium. This allows students to share their discoveries and showcase their work through oral presentations, fine arts exhibits and performances, poster presentations, and more.

This event is an excellent way for students to sharpen their presentation skills and gain confidence.

Andrew Sathoff

Andrew Sathoff

Assistant Professor / Science Program Coordinator / Undergraduate Research Coordinator

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Contact

Office Location: Science Center
Phone: (605) 291-5455
Email
Website

Research News

Dr. Alex Dececchi led a team of international researchers to discover evidence that feathered dinosaurs used wings to 'flap-run.' The dinosaur's track path and a rendering of the dinosaur are shown.

DSU professor and international research team discover dinosaur flap-run

Dr. Alex Dececchi, Assistant Professor of Biology in Dakota State University’s College of Arts & Sciences, is part of an exciting recent discovery. Dececchi led a team of international researchers in discovering evidence for the first time that small-feathered dinosaurs ran at speeds achieved only by using their wings to ‘flap-run.’

DSU researchers presented at the summer AMCIS conference.

DSU research impacts national conference

Dakota State University researchers made an impressive showing at a summer professional conference, demonstrating that DSU faculty and students conduct quality, cutting-edge research that contributes to theory and practice.

Emme Josko working to restore an educational skeleton at Dakota State University.

Researcher seeks to identify educational skeletons

Emme Josko's research project is dedicated to putting educational skeletons back together and attempting to identify what country the skeletons are from and some of the genetic traits attributable to them.

More news

“Being able to do research and hopefully have technical articles published as an undergraduate is a unique honor, and I’m incredibly thankful to DSU for all these opportunities.”

Sara Stehlik, Network and Security Administration (BS) - ''21