Undergrad Research Involvement
Students within the Communication department have a number of opportunities to get involved with research, either by assisting faculty and graduate students, or conducting their own independent research with the guidance of a faculty sponsor.
Find Research Assistant Opportunities
COMM RA Opportunities for this quarter
Non-COMM Opportunities:
Faculty Research Assistance Program Directory
Register to get Research Credit
Earn credit by participating in research!
Possible activities include data coding, statistical analysis, literature reviews, designing study material, recruiting, scheduling & managing research participants, and creating and testing surveys.
Students are limited to 5 units per quarter, 30 units total in all 98/99/198/199/199RA courses combined and 12 units total in all of COMM 194/199/199RA combined for major credit.
The following chart indicates the breakdown for the number of hours of work expected per unit.
| Units | Total Hours Per Term | Hours Per Week (10-week quarter) | Hours Per Week (6-week Summer Session) | Hours Per Week (3-week Summer Session) |
| 1 | 25 | 2.5 | ~4 | ~8 |
| 2 | 50 | 5 | ~8-9 | ~16-17 |
| 3 | 75 | 7.5 | ~12-13 | 25 |
| 4 | 100 | 10 | ~16-17 | ~33 |
| 5 | 125 | 12.5 | ~20-21 | ~41-42 |
Please click to go to the respective section for information, requirements, and enrollment procedures for each of the following opportunities.
Comm 99RA provides an opportunity for declared Pre-Comm and Comm students to work closely with a professor or graduate students on a research project. Interested students should review the following requirements and procedures before pursuing this opportunity. This course can only be taken for P/NP and therefore will not count toward a student’s pre-major or major GPA. Students can sign up for 1-5 units based on their contract with sponsoring faculty (25 hours of work over the course of the quarter = 1 unit). Do not commit to working with and/or start the project without full approval and an add code so you can register for the course.
Prerequisites:
- Student must be declared as a Pre-Comm or Comm major (or other majors by exception based on faculty member request)
- Student must have 2.0 cumulative GPA
Getting Started:
Reach out to a COMM professor or graduate student to secure an RA position. Once you've secured a position, please visit the Student Success Hub (SSH) portal and login using your NetID to submit a proposal to participate in COMM 99RA. The deadline to submit the proposal is typically the second week of the quarter in which you will be enrolled. After this deadline, proposals will still be accepted but students may incur a $3 late-add fee from the Registrar's Office. No proposals will be accepted after the third Friday of the quarter.
Comm 199RA provides an opportunity for advanced students in the upper-division Communication major to work closely with a professor or graduate students on a research project. Interested students should review the following requirements and procedures before pursuing this opportunity. Students can sign up for 1-5 units based on their contract with sponsoring faculty (25 hours of work over the course of the quarter = 1unit). Do not commit to working with and/or start the project without full approval and an add code so you can register for the course.
Prerequisites:
- Student must be declared as an upper-division Communication major (or other majors by exception based on faculty member request). Exceptions will not be made for Pre-Comm majors.
- Student must have attained upper-division standing (90+ completed units)
- Student must have a 3.0 minimum GPA averaged across the preceding 2 quarters (not including Summer).
Note: The Undergraduate Advising Office will not make exceptions for students who do not meet all of the prerequisites to enroll in Comm 199RA. Students that do not meet the prerequisites for Comm 199RA may still qualify to participate in undergraduate research by enrolling in Comm 99RA.
Getting Started:
Reach out to a COMM professor or graduate student to secure an RA position. Once you've secured a position, please visit the Student Success Hub (SSH) portal and login using your NetID to submit a proposal to participate in COMM 199RA. The deadline to submit the proposal is typically the second week of the quarter in which you will be enrolled. After this deadline, proposals will still be accepted but students may incur a $3 late-add fee from the Registrar's Office. No proposals will be accepted after the third Friday of the quarter.
Comm 199 provides an opportunity for advanced students in the upper-division Communication major to work on an independent academic project under the guidance of a Communication professor. Interested students should review the following requirements and procedures before pursuing this opportunity. Do not start the project without full approval and an add code so you can register for the course.
Prerequisites:
- Student must be declared as an upper-division Communication major
- Student must have attained upper-division standing (90 completed units)
- Student must have achieved at least a 3.0 GPA for the preceding two quarters at UCSB (during the regular academic year – no summer GPAs will be considered). Note: This is not a cumulative GPA, nor an average between the two quarters.
- Student must have obtained permission of a professor to sponsor their work (and completed any preparatory coursework).
Note: The Undergraduate Advising Office will not make exceptions for students who do not meet all of the prerequisites to enroll in Comm 199.
Getting Started:
Once you've obtain permission of a faculty sponsor, please visit the Student Success Hub (SSH) portal and login using your NetID to submit a proposal to participate in COMM 199. The deadline to submit the proposal is typically the second week of the quarter in which you will be enrolled. After this deadline, proposals will still be accepted but students may incur a $3 late-add fee from the Registrar's Office. No proposals will be accepted after the third Friday of the quarter.