India has a large number of eligible learners ready to enroll in institutions of higher education. There have been numerous attempts on the part of policy makers to cater to the educational needs of such learners and equip them with the essential skills to confidently face the challenges of the competitive job market. These are effectively reflected in the recent government document called National Education Policy 2020, which suggests some fundamental changes to the existing Indian educational sector, including inculcating interest in research among Indian students. At present, some universities provide for undergraduate research as a part of their curricula. Some state governments, e.g., Maharashtra, and the national University Grants Commission have also taken initiatives to improve the quality of undergraduate research in India.

The Italian university system comprises 97 institutions (67 state universities, 19 legally recognized private universities, and 11 online universities). Italian universities display divergent characteristics by mission, structure, size, and location. There are different vocations (generalist vs. specialist, research-oriented vs. teaching-oriented), which involve different structures and performances that are difficult to compare. In the last decade, practices and experiences related to the engagement through partnership model have matured, focusing on the participation of students as partners in the development of research, both campus-based but especially community- and work-based. An overview of the national literature on these experiences highlights how they fall within the framework of collaborative action-research and the promotion of dialogue between universities and society, which has been particularly encouraged since 2009 by numerous European documents aimed at encouraging “a new partnership for the modernization of universities” and collaboration between universities and organizations.

This chapter describes undergraduate research (UR) in the Colombian higher education system, highlights the main characteristics of the cultural and administrative context of UR in Colombia, and presents the most important conditions for the implementation of UR and the general state of the integration of research in teaching. In order to understand the best and most relevant UR practices, the concepts associated with research are presented, including a historical overview concerning the tensions between “proper research” (“research in the strict sense”), “formative research” and “research training.” The chapter also shows governmental UR implementations such as the Networks of Research Seedbeds in Colombia. This emblematic project is among the most successful implementations of UR in the country.

Since its founding in 1971, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has advanced rapidly and emerged as a global leader in innovation. One of the best examples of this progress is the development of a comprehensive federal university system and a well-articulated vision and framework for building a highly educated workforce who possess twenty-first-century skills and who will be key players in a knowledge-based economy. This chapter explores the role of undergraduate research within the UAE’s federal university system, and the role for these programmes in national capacity development. Model programmes at each of the UAE’s three federal higher education institutions are explored, and recommendations for policy and practice related to undergraduate research are discussed.

The chapter provides an overview of how undergraduate history students are often introduced to historical research as well as a possible corrective. We offer a new approach, which we believe improves the undergraduate research experience for history students. We claim that the logic of the discipline tends to lead to curricula in which the first years of study are mainly based on secondary texts while sustained interaction with primary sources is often left toward the conclusion of undergraduate studies.At Valparaiso University we implemented a hybrid internship/independent study course in which students work at the University Archives and Special Collections while pursuing historical research projects based on the collections. We believe the course strengthens the connection of students to primary documents and encourages students to conceptualize research as a civic enterprise.

Sustainability science education research since the work of Kates et al. (2001) suggests that, despite uncertainties regarding the field and its methods, students are engaged in sustainability research, gain confidence when faced with a real-world problem to address, and learn to interact effectively with stakeholders in a team situation. Sustainability science education also benefits from introducing students to interdisciplinarity and wicked problem-solving. Challenges include the lack of agreement on what sustainability education entails, institutional resistance to interdisciplinary approaches, staffing and funding, lack of administrative support, and identifying and assessing key competencies. However, despite the challenges, there are several notable approaches developed and programs initiated for undergraduates.

The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) works to unite the undergraduate research community, seeking to communicate the impact of undergraduate research; equip students, faculty, staff, and administrators with the tools for success; and provide undergraduate research to more students – particularly those from underserved populations. CUR began in 1978 as a small group of chemistry faculty at US private, liberal arts institutions, but it has evolved over time into an organization with more than 13,000 members on 900 campuses worldwide. CUR’s growth largely occurred because of its dedication to including a wide range of voices, different perspectives, and the challenges of changing circumstances. The work presented here reflects those values. By assembling lessons learned from students and faculty mentors in multifaceted academic environments, we can improve our knowledge of successful initiatives, adapt them to different settings, and appreciate the richness of diverse experiences in the undergraduate research community.

Community-based undergraduate research (CBUR) engages students as learners in research partnerships with community members, groups or agencies, for the purpose of identifying or solving community issues or effecting social change. This chapter explores the roles of the various parties in CBUR, which include, besides students and community, faculty and university managers. It is illustrated with three case studies: the University of British Columbia in Canada, which integrates CBUR with undergraduate learning; the city of Christchurch in New Zealand, where it is used to advance the process of post-earthquake recovery; and Luneburg in northern Germany, which has established a transdisciplinary CBUR programme between the city and university to encourage urban sustainability. In conclusion, future opportunities and challenges for both students and faculty in developing CBUR are discussed.

The discipline of medicine advances through research. The medical education community worldwide recognizes that the evolving field of medicine and its progress requires that medical students participate in research. Undergraduate research during premedical and/or medical studies influences the practice of clinical medicine and facilitates the development of physician-scientists. The essential nature of the discipline, the structures and length of medical education worldwide, and the opportunities for research activity are important to understand. Implementation programs that use a competency-based medical education approach find that research is important for meeting medical board competencies. Curricular and research participation barriers exist, but models that integrate research and provide mentored experiences within the academic and training environment can decrease these barriers. Further growth of research preparation in medicine and enhancement of competencies is possible through assessment and continuous quality improvement.

The mission statements and teaching and learning strategies of some 150 UK universities speak of undergraduate programs fostering criticality, rationality, expert knowledge, independent thinking, professional standards, and independent learning through case studies, project, placements, and practice modules culminating in the undergraduate project or dissertation. This capstone, final-year, independently researched project enables students to demonstrate their expertise as discipline practitioners. Since 2000 there have been more opportunities for undergraduate research to be published through e-journals and research conferences. Undergraduate research practice is evolving in new disciplines and as business and industry collaborations grow. Pedagogic research into students’ appreciation and understanding of their learning from their own research, and inquiry into the effectiveness of research embedded across programs and within supervision processes, will continue.

This chapter looks beyond basic conceptions and practical implementations of undergraduate research by clarifying its nexus with psychological approaches, research-related dispositions playing a role in inquiry-based learning, as well as theoretical frameworks of competence and professional development. Further, the chapter systematically reflects contemporary studies on undergraduate research with a focus on psychological constructs. Methods for accessing and measuring features of undergraduate research and various effects attributed to doing undergraduate research are discussed. On this basis, a theoretical framework of undergraduate research is introduced. The chapter concludes with open questions concerning the theoretical foundation of undergraduate research from the psychological viewpoint, and with proposals for future research.

Since its beginnings, phonological research has sought to discover constants below the phonetic flow associated with the linguistic expressions produced by speakers. Saussurean distinctiveness as the core property of phonemic units in European structuralism on a par with the functional criteria at the base of American phonemics have led to an interpretation of phonological phenomena in terms of distributional constraints on the phonetic segments, placing them in relation to some abstract level. We argue for the inadequacy of this approach in order to interpret the relation between lexical properties and the mapping onto the sensory-motor level. Specifically, the main formal requirements such as linearity, invariance, and biuniqueness of structural phonemics are called into question by the fact that harmonies, metaphonies, and other phonetic mechanisms provided by Romance systems escape such procedures and require a more powerful theory involving a cognitive level of organization. In fact, the speaker is able to master very complex phonological knowledge, including processes neutralizing underlying differences and types of overlapping, for which the notion of phoneme is of no use. On the contrary, these processes support an analysis in which lexical representations are connected to surface occurrences by rules and derivations as a part of the language capacity.

Scholarship in the arts may take several forms depending on the artistic discipline. From theatrical productions, to art exhibits, to dance performances, the culmination of the work of the art form is presented in various ways. One option that crosses all art forms is arts-based research (ABR). The incorporation of ABR can be an important scholarly approach for all art forms. The implementation of ABR with undergraduate students may take several forms, including capstone courses, senior thesis projects, or undergraduate research summer scholars’ programs. The purpose of this chapter is to provide examples and strategies for making arts-based research a viable opportunity for undergraduate students in the arts disciplines. Many of the examples in the chapter are based on my work in dance in the United States, but ABR includes all art forms and all nations.

The Maastricht Research Based Learning program for Excellence (MaRBLe) is an extension of Maastricht University’s leading educational approach, that is, Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL emphasizes that learning should be constructive, take place in context, in collaboration with others, and driven by self-direction. The 4C/ID model has proven to be helpful to identify shared principles for Research-Based Learning (RBL). These principles has proven very supportive in the transition from PBL to RBL, and to work toward further harmonization of the RBL practices at Maastricht University without jeopardizing the way they are tailored to the needs of a particular scientific domain, students in this domain, as well as other conditions. RBL was introduced via a true bottom-up approach, giving room to early adaptors that functioned as pioneers in their faculty. Lessons learned vary from the necessity to have a stable community of practice as a basis for exchange and further development and the focus on empowering students in the development of their academic research skills.

In France, a consolidated research ecosystem, including different national structures, has been developed to promote excellence in academic research. While research-oriented curricula are well organized at doctoral and master levels, the national policy perspective has not yet considered introducing academic research at undergraduate level. However, various initiatives exist within the institutions to encourage the participation of undergraduate students in research activities. In this chapter, we introduce some initiatives developed towards undergraduate research in the context of the French national system of education.

“Humboldt reloaded” is a cross-faculty teaching program for undergraduate research experiences established in 2011 at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. The overall goal is to provide students with the opportunity to experience and conduct research at a very early stage in the undergraduate curriculum. The program is named after the educational reformer Wilhelm von Humboldt, the founder of the modern German university, who advocated the unity of research and teaching and the development of critical thinking skills (the Humboldtian education ideal).