Student Research Opportunities
Pepperdine's commitment to delivering an exceptional educational experience includes nurturing scholarly development that puts students at the center of the institution. There, meaningful undergraduate research becomes the focus—one that adds value to the teaching and learning environment and produces graduates able to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Seaver College
Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
The Summer Undergraduate Research Program seeks to develop an active program of undergraduate research in all disciplines; to teach students the common elements of the research process by actively engaging them in a research study; to encourage students to pursue careers in research; and to provide time and incentive for faculty members to engage in research.
Cross-Disciplinary/Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program (CDIUR)
The Cross-Disciplinary/Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program is a 12-week program involving undergraduate research that emphasizes the working together of students and faculty from diverse disciplines.
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative (AYURI)
The Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative provides faculty members with grants to support a student's research project, while each student receives one unit of scholarship support.
Graduate School of Education and Psychology
Clinic Advancement, Research, and Training
Clinic Advancement, Research, and Training (CART) aims to facilitate the provision of high quality assessment and therapy services to members of the local community.
Culture and Trauma Research Lab
The Culture and Trauma Research Lab meets weekly to conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the cultural context of interpersonal trauma recovery. Projects, including critical analyses of literature, focus on partner abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, genocide, and the societal trauma of racism. Current populations of interest are American Indian, African American, Latina, Asian American, Jewish American, Liberian, and South African. The lab has also examined the role of religion and spirituality in the trauma recovery process.
Iluminar, Community Action and Research Lab
Illuminating lives through multicultural research and discovery. Iluminar is the Spanish word that means to illuminate. It is our hope that the research projects and issues we choose to engage in with communities, provide more insights and “give light to” areas within psychology that need to be better understood in order to provide more just and equitable outcomes for underserved and unserved multicultural communities. Iluminar is grounded in a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) theoretical framework of understanding.
Language and Culture Lab
The Language and Culture Lab meets weekly to conduct qualitative and quantitative research to understand and empower diverse communities within a cultural context. The lab is inspired by Martín-Baró’s work on Liberation Psychology and conducts four tracks of research in the areas of language and culture within the field of psychology.
MFT Practicum[BROKEN LINK]
The MFT Clinical Training Department serves all students and recent graduates of GSEP's Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy Program.
Multicultural Research and Training Lab (MRTL)
MRTL was organized by a cohort of Psychology faculty members at GSEP to provide Psy.D. students engaged in multicultural research a space to discuss and receive feedback on their clinical dissertations topics. In addition to offering dissertation support, MRTL provides students the opportunity to discuss their views on how effectively the Psy.D. program contributes to their multicultural competence, and the ways in which GSEP can offer a more welcoming experience for students from diverse backgrounds.
Graziadio Business School
Center for Applied Research
Established in 2010 and led by Dr. Nelson Granados, the Center for Applied Research seeks to provide thought leadership among business professionals and academics alike. With a focus on values-centered leadership and social responsibility, the center endeavors to bridge the gap between business theory and business practice.
School of Law
The Law Library supports law research and instruction between students and faculty. Law students have opportunities to work as Faculty Research Assistants on various collaborative endeavors as identified by their faculty advisors.
In addition, the Pepperdine Law Review, the School of Law's premier scholarly legal journal edited and published by students, allows students selected on the basis of scholarship the ability to do creative research and writing. Students write comments and notes on legal developments and significant cases, as well as edit the lead articles and book reviews written by professors, lawyers, judges, legislators, and other scholars. Staff membership on the Pepperdine Law Review is recognized as both an honor and a unique educational experience.
School of Public Policy
The School of Public Policy is committed to constructing a community of academic and scholarly excellence in which faculty and students study, investigate, learn, and flourish together. Through research conducted by the Davenport Institute, the faculty, and the annual policy research seminars, students have limitless opportunities to become involved with scholars who conduct dynamic and internationally-recognized research that places them in the top of their fields.
Explore a well-rounded collection of centers and institutes that support the University mission as they complement and enhance learning and personal growth.