Undergraduate research courses are offered by all academic departments.  These courses allow students to obtain academic credit for their research experience.  Course numbers for research courses in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology include 99, 198A-D and 199.

A research course is considered a CONTRACT COURSE.  Prior to enrolling in a research course, students must find a faculty mentor and receive his/her/their approval.  Once approval from a faculty mentor has been obtained, students must create a Course Contract through My.UCLA.edu to generate the 9-digit SRS (registration number) for the course.

There are both lower division (Student Research Program [SRP] 99) and upper division (EE BIOL 190, 191, 196, 198A-D, 199; PHYSCI 191, 195, 196, 198ABC, 199) research/independent study courses. If you do have prior laboratory research experience, your faculty mentor may require that you enroll in at least one quarter of SRP 99; the number of quarters of SRP 99 you enroll in is at the discretion of your faculty mentor. For upper division research/independent study courses, your faculty mentor will determine which is the appropriate course for you to enroll in.

The Student Research Program (SRP) 99 is administered by the URC. Contracts for SRP 99 must be submitted to the URC office by Friday of Week Two. Each department has different policies and different submission deadline for your research contracts. You are responsible for being aware of these deadlines. Research contracts are created via MyUCLA (click here for more information on contract courses).

To create a contract:

• Login to my.ucla.edu
• Click on “Contract Courses”, which is located on the left column under “MyUCLA Features”
• Click on “Submit a new contract” under “My Contract Courses”
• Select year and term
• Select the course you wish to enroll in, e.g., Directed Research (199) or Honors Research (198)
• Select the “Subject Area,” which is the department that your faculty mentor is affiliated with
• Choose your faculty mentor and the number of units that you wish to enroll
• In “My Research Plan,” write a brief description of your project
• Complete any other areas as requested and print out the contract

All students who participate in a research contract course MUST complete the Laboratory Safety Fundamentals workshop before being allowed to enroll in a research course. Proof of completion (e.g., print-out of e-mail confirmation) must be submitted with the research contract. For information on how to enroll in a workshop, please visit: https://sciences.ugresearch.ucla.edu/courses/srp/lab-safety-certification/.

To be enrolled in your EEB contract course (EEB 195-199 only):

• Obtain your EEB faculty mentor’s signature.
• Submit the signed contract to the EEB Undergraduate Office via Message Center by Wednesday of Week 2 of each term. In your message, please confirm your intention of being in enrolled in the designated contract course for the specified term (eg., EEB 199 for Fall 2022.)
• The EEB Undergraduate Office will obtain the signature of the authorized departmental representative and process the enrollment for EEB 195 – 199.
• Once enrollment has been processed, the EEB Undergraduate Office will send a confirmation message via Message Center.

NOTE:  Students who enroll in contract courses with faculty from the School of Medicine or from the School of Dentistry must submit their contracts to the Office of the Registrar for enrollment after all necessary signatures have been obtained.

Departments have different deadlines for submission of contracts.  Check with each department for these deadlines.

Contracts (EEB 195 – 199 only) with faculty from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology must be submitted to the EE BIOL Undergraduate Office via Message Center no later than Wednesday of Week Two.