Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research
The Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) summarizes best practices that support and sustain highly effective undergraduate research environments. The report is organized into sections corresponding to various functions or units of a typical college or university campus. Whenever the term undergraduate research, scholarship, or creative inquiry appears, it is inclusive of all disciplines. In CUR’s experience, successful programs exhibit many of the characteristics enumerated in this document. Further, many of the characteristics described overlap and are important elements in an integrated, synergistic approach to enhancing undergraduate research.
The Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) is based on the considerable experience of CUR members who have engaged undergraduate students in research, developed undergraduate research programs, mentored new faculty to include undergraduate research in their teaching repertoire, and advised higher education institutions in the development of undergraduate research programs.
The first edition of COEUR was developed in 2011 and published in 2012. The contributing authors were Roger Rowlett, Linda Blockus, and Susan Larson.
COEUR 2.0
Both the free downloadable publication and this web page represent the second edition of the Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR 2.0). The updated second edition, COEUR 2.0, was developed in 2023 and published in 2024. This content was written, edited from the first edition, and collected by:
- Lourdes E. Echegoyen, Associate Research Professor of Chemistry and Director, Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives at the University of Texas at El Paso
- Winny Dong, Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Buffie Longmire-Avital, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Black Lumen Project at Elon University
- Jeanne Mekolichick, Professor of Sociology and Associate Provost for Research, Faculty Success & Strategic Initiatives at Radford University
Here are some of the updates you will find in COEUR 2.0.
The number of characteristics has been streamlined from 12 to 11, with the ‘Strategic Planning’ characteristic now incorporated into the ‘Campus Mission and Culture’ section. There is a stronger emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in all the characteristics. Additionally, a discussion on integrating research, scholarly work, and creative inquiry with other high-impact practices, such as community engagement, study abroad, internship, and work-based learning, has been included.