COBE works with a large number of undergraduate researchers each semester. We have previously worked with students from over 16 different departments and programs across VCU! Below are undergraduate research opportunities we offer. For information about other opportunities at VCU, as well as useful advice on all aspects of the process, you can visit The VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities at VCU blog and/or The VCU Office of Research.
If you are interested in doing undergraduate research with us, please fill out this form and a member of our group will follow-up with you. We accept students from all majors and disciplines!
Spit for Science Class
Spit for Science: The VCU Student Survey is an effort being led by researchers at VCU to create a unique university-wide research opportunity for VCU students. All incoming freshmen who were 18 years of age or older from Fall 2011-2014 were invited to be participants. Nearly 10,000 students participated!
The scientific focus of the project is to understand why some people are more likely than others to develop problems associated with the use of alcohol, the use of other substances, and difficulties with emotional health. The project aims to understand how individual genetic predispositions come together with environmental factors to contribute to these outcomes. We know that 1 in 4 people over the age of 18 are affected by substance use or mental health problems.
This project is an opportunity for students at VCU to work together with some of the leading researchers in the world in this area to try to understand and prevent these important and widespread problems. We hope to use the findings from the project to feed back into programming at VCU to benefit our VCU students and community.
The first COBE Research Bootcamp occurred in August of 2016
COBE Research Bootcamp
Each summer, we accept 20 students to participate in an undergraduate research bootcamp. Bootcamp participants gain detailed knowledge of the Spit for Science dataset and codebook, learn to use SPSS, and complete small research projects as they explore basic research methodology and statistics. Applications are sent out during each spring semester.
Independent Study
We have worked with students across multiple departments to create independent study experiences that meet their departmental requirements. Previous students have come from Psychology, Biology, and Kinesiology and Health Sciences. Previous independent study projects have included the relationship between parenting styles and freshman alcohol use, variants in alcohol metabolizing genes and rates of alcohol consumption, and whether mindfulness moderates the relationship between stressful life events and anxiety/depression.
For information about other opportunities at VCU, as well as useful advice on all aspects of the process, you can visit The VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities at VCU blog and/or The VCU Office of Research.
You can find many of our former students’ projects in Scholar’s Compass!
Are you a VCU student interested in supporting or promoting COBE? Great! Whether you’re majoring in creative writing, biology, marketing or anything in between, we would love to have you and your particular talents on our team!
You can start by:
Following COBE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Attending COBE-sponsored and COBE-related events
Sign-up to be a part of the COBE student advisory committee
Practicing healthy living day-to-day
If you have a bit more time to spare:
Interact with us on social media
Join a wellness-related or COBE-related student organization
Volunteer to help COBE with events and programming
Or you could help:
Staff an event
Distribute t-shirts and prizes
Advertise an event
Film, record and/or blog about an event
Design COBE graphics
Have another idea? Let us know!