Research
Research For Better Lives
Research at Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering puts students at the center of discovery, offering hands-on opportunities to work alongside faculty on real-world challenges. From coastal resilience and environmental research to artificial intelligence and biomedical engineering, our community is advancing ideas that improve lives.
Centers and Institutes
From genomics to brain science to water resilience to cancer research, SSE's centers and institutes are where our faculty push interdisciplinary discovery beyond the boundaries of any single department. Thirteen centers strong, spanning bioinformatics, computational science, polymer research, stem cell biology, neuroscience, coastal resilience, and more, these hubs connect our researchers and students to some of the most pressing questions in science, engineering, and medicine today.
Undergraduate Research
Research isn't reserved for graduate students at SSE. With 200+ full-time faculty leading labs across every scientific and engineering discipline, undergraduates can get hands-on from day one, joining active projects, working directly with faculty mentors, and learning what it really means to generate new knowledge rather than just study it. Start by exploring a department's research areas, connect with a faculty member whose work excites you, and for top performers, that experience can culminate in an Honors Thesis: the capstone of an undergraduate research journey. At SSE, curiosity doesn't stay theoretical. It becomes a practice.
"Getting involved in research has made me look back at my time at Tulane and feel grateful to leave with such a meaningful experience as a scientist."
Research & Funding Opportunities
There are three principal focus areas of research within the school: Health, the Environment and Materials. While many faculty and students engage in research outside these areas, most faculty have some component of their work in one of these three areas.
See the individual departments for specific research interests of individual faculty.
For faculty funding opportunities, please visit
The goal of the Tulane University Sponsored Projects Administration is to provide accurate, timely information for grant opportunities; provide information, assistance and forms related to proposal preparation and submission; and provide regulations to guide you in the administration of your sponsored projects. The Sponsored Projects Administration, in conjunction with Grants and Contracts Accounting, also provides educational and outreach programs to individuals involved in sponsored projects administration. Since the University receives considerable external funding, it is important to provide stewardship and management consistent with the rules and regulations of both Tulane and the sponsoring organization.
SSE Proposal Routing Forms: for the “Office of the Dean” approval for all proposal routing forms, please send the completed form to SSERouting@Tulane.edu.
For current students looking for research opportunities with a faculty member:
From Curiosity to Discovery: Research at Tulane
Research at the Tulane School of Science and Engineering is more than an opportunity — it’s a defining part of the student experience. Through hands-on projects in labs, in the field, and alongside faculty mentors, students turn curiosity into discovery while building skills that shape their academic and professional futures.
So You Want to Be a Researcher? is a video series that highlights students as they take you inside their research journeys. From biomedical engineering and neuroscience to synthetic biology, environmental science, optics, and coastal research, these stories show how Tulane SSE empowers students to ask big questions, work with cutting-edge tools, and contribute to research that matters — long before graduation.
