Research

Why do we think undergraduate research is so important? Because it prepares you for a future no one can anticipate. It is easy enough to learn the answers to questions we already know but how do you learn to create answers to questions no one has ever imagined? The answer is to learn the way to formulate these new questions and the techniques to answer them. Doing collaborative research with a faculty member is the best way we know to actually involve you in the process of learning ways to answer questions no one has ever asked before.

Our faculty are all active researchers in the diverse subfields of neuroscience. They all have busy laboratories on campus and many collaborate with faculty at other universities all over the world. Students who work with these faculty are true collaborators and contribute to the data collection, analysis and writing of the papers that are presented at meetings or are published in professional journals. You can find a list of those papers and presentations here.

Collaborative research in neuroscience goes on throughout the academic year but is more intense in the summer months when many student stay on campus to complete research with their faculty mentors. Funding for these research opportunities is provided by the Summer Research Scholars Program and the Levy Endowment for Neuroscience. The Levy Endowment was established in 1991 by the generous gift of Dr. Edward Levy '59 and his mother, Mrs. Louise Levy. It funds projects to enhance the research experience of Washington and Lee students engaged in neuroscience research.

To learn more about student research opportunities on campus, please visit each faculty member's web site. For off campus opportunities be sure to visit the National Science Foundations: Research Experiences for Undergraduates.