Student Research Opportunities
As a nursing student, you have the opportunity to engage with research to develop critical thinking skills and apply evidence-based knowledge to deliver the best possible patient care. Nursing research strengthens patient care by informing evidence-based practice and continuous improvement.
Graduate research
In real and measurable ways, our graduate students have the opportunity to contribute to the profession of nursing as scientists and scholars. Our faculty emphasizes collegial mentoring relationships between expert and developing scholars with regard to research, grant writing and publications. They facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and access to more than 22 core research laboratories on Ohio State’s campus to assist students in developing cutting edge and high-quality research projects.
Our faculty leaders also assist students to obtain competitive extramural research funding through such eminent organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, TriService Nursing Research Program, Midwest Nursing Research Society, and Sigma Theta Tau, International. Intramural funding of research includes the Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship (AGGRS) and the Ray Travel Award for Service and Scholarship provides travel funding to conferences, and both are competitive. The Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum provides an on-campus venue to present graduate research. Our graduates serve as scientists and scholars in the profession of nursing, contributing richly at all levels of practice and teaching.
Our PhD program can provide more information about nursing research for our graduate students.
Undergraduate research
Engaging undergraduate students in research facilitates students’ understanding of how the science that underpins the discipline of nursing is discovered and subsequently how this is translated into practice. Students at the undergraduate level may engage in research in several ways:
- through 6 credit hours of independent study with a faculty mentor, students may earn the Research Distinction designation
- students who are admitted to the College of Nursing Honors Program are paired with a faculty mentor and complete a research project, disseminate research findings, complete 18 credit hours of honors-quality courses over the course of five semesters, and graduate with the Honors Research Distinction designation
- the 13 credit hour online Clinical Trials Sciences Certificate is available to students as an elective; or
- students may have the opportunity to work as a research assistant on faculty funded projects.
These experiences allow students who are interested in research to engage in various aspects of the research process and give students an understanding of the intricacies of building a scientific basis for practice while encouraging them to pursue further experiences in research.
The College of Nursing Honors Program is a prestigious program that engages students directly with all aspects of the research process. It is unique in that all students from this program graduate with Honors Research Distinction, the highest honor an undergraduate can attain at Ohio State. Students apply during their sophomore year. Students work closely with a faculty mentor for three years to complete a research project. The goals for students in this program are to understand the research process, complete a research project under the close supervision of a faculty mentor and disseminate their findings according to honors program standards (abstract, academic poster presentation and thesis).
Student projects are deposited in the Knowledge Bank, Ohio State’s institutional repository. Its mission is to collect, preserve and distribute digitally formatted intellectual output of Ohio State faculty, staff and students, that is currently or will be of research interest. Explore the Knowledge Bank resources, including but not limited to journal articles, working papers, posters and culminating projects. Contact the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry for more information about undergraduate research at the university.
The Clinical Trials Sciences certificate prepares students who have an interest in human subjects’ research regulations, study conduct, management, data coordinating and leadership with a broad foundation of knowledge and skills needed to pursue careers in clinical research. Jobs in clinical trials study management include: clinical research assistant, clinical research coordinators, data managers, regulatory affairs officers and more.