ORS Student Information

How To Apply

Students do not apply directly for the Oxford Research Scholars (ORS) program. Faculty with active research projects apply for ORS, which in turn allows approved faculty to mentor you as a research assistant. Some faculty will ask students to send an application or expression of interest; some faculty identify students who excel in their courses and invite students to work with them. What you can do is find out if your faculty members have ongoing research projects in which you are interested, learn about their process for working with student research assistants, and build the necessary skills by applying yourself well in their classes.

Timeline

Faculty apply around March of spring semester. Keep this timeline in mind if you are looking for potential mentors. Also, ORS runs for the full academic year at Oxford—you have to be able to enroll in courses with your Oxford faculty mentor in both Fall and Spring terms—and the program requires participation in the spring research symposium. In other words, students who graduate Oxford early are not eligible to participate in ORS.

How To Find Faculty

It is important that you are familiar with faculty work and that you have begun to build skills that align with the faculty member’s research process and needs. ORS students do not design original projects; they assist and can make unique contributions to faculty members’ own research. You need to be willing and able to engage with highly specialized research in an academic discipline, so learn about the faculty member’s work before you approach them about ORS.

Tips From Faculty

If you want to work with a faculty member on a research project, the most important thing is to make a good impression, demonstrate your reliability, and express interest in their work. Do your best in their classes, go to office hours, and ask them about what they're working on. ORS is a collaborative program, so you want be someone your prospective faculty member trusts to do good work and be a dependable addition to their team.

For more information, contact Regina Barrett, Director of Programs for Academic Affairs, at rmbarre@emory.edu.