Is UMD or Brown better for undergraduate research opportunities?

For early, close faculty mentorship, Brown will often feel more accessible because of its smaller undergraduate population, flexible Open Curriculum, and well-established Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRAs), which can fund student-faculty research during the academic year or summer. For the broadest volume of labs and large-scale, externally connected research, especially in STEM, engineering, computing, public policy, and environmental fields, UMD offers exceptional reach as a major public research university near Washington, D.C.

A student who wants to shape an interdisciplinary path, approach professors across departments, and potentially turn a seminar or independent idea into a project may thrive at Brown. The UTRA program is a particularly concrete advantage: it gives undergraduates a recognizable route to paid research or creative work with a faculty sponsor. Brown’s smaller classes and undergraduate focus can make sustained relationships with professors easier to build, though students still need to take initiative in contacting faculty and finding a project.

UMD fits a student who wants many possible entry points and is comfortable navigating a larger institution. Programs such as the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) introduce students to research through structured, multi-semester groups, while the Gemstone Program provides a team-based research experience for selected students. UMD’s scale also means access to a very large faculty, specialized facilities, and research connections involving federal agencies, nonprofits, and industry in the D.C. and Maryland region.