Research for Credit 4999

The 4999 system provides a means for students to receive credit for conducting undergraduate research, usually during the academic year, as well as a means for compensating faculty who mentor such students.

Note: To receive any support from the Undergraduate Research Program, applicable approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) must be in place before any data collection from human subjects takes place. In alignment with Federal guidelines, beginning June 1st, 2024, all investigators within our institution—comprising faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, principals, and co-investigators—must have completed CITI training. For what you must complete for CITI training, please click here.

Students may not serve as a PI for an IRB study. They should work with a faculty mentor who will serve as PI and be responsible for the oversight of the study. If you have any concerns or questions or want to discuss this policy further, please email the IRB Chair, Marna Winter at mwinter2@elon.edu.

We expect that students who have registered in 4999 will present at SURF at least once before graduating Elon.

What is it? Credit hours with a faculty mentor that enable students to explore research questions and test theories
Who is eligible?
  • Students with Sophomore, Junior, and Senior standing
  • Students with a minimum 3.0 GPA in major OR overall**
  • Students who have approval from faculty mentor and department chair
Is there funding? No, but taking 4999 hours makes you eligible to apply for several other UR grants
How do I find a mentor?
  • Talk to faculty you have taken class with
  • Talk to your department chair and academic advisor
  • Check out our page listing faculty who are accepting research students by clicking here
When is the deadline? Fall: September 11, 2024 (usually the second Monday of the semester)

Winter: January 6, 2025

Spring: February 10, 2025 (second Monday of the semester)

Summer I: June 4, 2025

Summer II: July 9, 2025
How do I enroll? Please click HERE for the link to the form
What info is on the registration form? Click HERE to see a document with info on the types of questions on the 4999 registration form

**Students not meeting the GPA requirement may, with their mentor’s co-signature, submit a petition to the Director of the Undergraduate Research Program requesting a waiver of the requirement. The petition should include specific reasoning and an evidence-based rationale describing the student’s readiness for success in undergraduate research. This waiver request should be submitted to the Undergraduate Research Program director via email with an explanation for the request and plan for going forward.

Experiential Learning Requirement

A student may satisfy Elon’s Experiential Learning Requirement through participation in mentored undergraduate research in the following ways as articulated in the Elon University Academic Catalog:

  • Enroll in 1 credit hour of research (courses numbered 4998 or 4999) = 1 unit
  • Elon’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) = 2 units

One semester hour of undergraduate research credit requires a minimum of 40 hours of work over a number of days appropriate to the specific research setting, to be determined by the faculty mentor. The length of the SURE program is 8 weeks in length and is non-credit hour bearing.

Important Links

4999 Registration Guidelines

4999 Mentor Requirements and Compensation

“Undergraduate research taught me to celebrate small victories and to realize that setbacks are opportunities for growth. The roadblocks I experienced expanded my ability to think critically and solve problems in new ways. My mentor provided crucial guidance and inspiration to achieve throughout my research journey.”
Taylor Jones ’19, Public Health Studies major