Undergraduate Research
Senior Honors Program
This 2-course sequence offers outstanding economics students the opportunity to work closely with an individual faculty member on a specialized research topic chosen by the student, during senior year. Completing a successful honors thesis is the only way to graduate with honors or highest honors in economics at UNC. Students writing an honors thesis are required to take ECON 691H in Fall and ECON 692H in Spring.
Summer Research
The Economics Department is pleased to offer several undergraduate competitive research awards to conduct research projects during the summer. These projects could serve as launching pads for senior honors theses or could be collaborative work with the faculty advisor or an independent research project. We currently offer three awards:
1. Guest Family Fund Grant: Four grants of $4,000 each
2. Research in inequality grant: Two grants of $4,000 each will be awarded to study topics in inequality with preference given to proposals that demonstrates promise for improving outcomes for disadvantaged populations.
3. Wesslen Grant for research in Data Analytics: Two grants of $4,000 each with a preference for students working in data science or considering careers in data science.
Economics Adventures
The Economics Department offers small grants to help finance your adventure. An Adventure could be a conference on economic topics that you’d like to attend, or a trip to interview someone you have learned about in an Economics course. Perhaps you are writing a paper for an Economics class and want to do research at the Library of Congress. Be audacious!
Conference Presentations
The Economics Department is pleased to offer funding to support the presentation of undergraduate research at a conference or seminar.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program is one of many programs administered through Office for Undergraduate Research and designed to enhance the educational experience of undergraduates by engaging them in research opportunities.
The Underrepresented Majors (URM) Fund
This fund supports students who are underrepresented in the field of economics in opportunities to enhance and apply their economics training. For example, you may want to attend the Sadie Conference or you may want to propose a faculty-mentored summer research project.
Ceteris Paribus – The Undergraduate Journal of Economics at UNC-Chapel Hill
Founded in 2023, Ceteris Paribus – the Undergraduate Journal of Economics‘ goal is to is to promote, engender, and expand undergraduate involvement with research in economics. The journal encourages submissions from UNC as well as other institutions.