faculty mentoring student looking in microscope

Faculty & Research

Get your hands dirty in a lab as you assist a professor looking to cure a particular type of cancer. Edit a study destined for publication in a psychology journal. At USF, what you learn matters — but so does how you learn. Our faculty of world-renowned researchers and scholars has you working on and solving real-world problems as they guide you every step of the way.

Student in lab coat.

Makena Gichuru ’25

Environmental Science

Research Awards for undergraduates

I haven’t graduated and I’m already being recognized for the work I’ve been doing. All my friends and professors and advisers showed up at the awards ceremony and I got to give a speech and talk about my life.”

Makena Gichuru ’25

Environmental Science

Come Learn By Doing

Rotunda in Kendrick Hall.

Research Centers & Institutes

Come change the world with your research — and come stretch your world with our research. Explore these 19 places that help research happen at USF.

student doing work at the Innovation Hive

Innovation Labs

Come dream, do, make, create, collaborate, ask questions, and find solutions in our state-of-the-art facilities.

plot of plants

Star Route Farms

Embrace sustainability and escape the urban landscape in our self-sustaining organic farm.

Osasere Evbuomwan

Grants & Awards

Explore recent grants and awards allocated to our faculty.

Student in chemistry lab.

Faculty & Student Research

Pursue in-depth research at the highest level. Do real-world work in small classes. Collaborate with faculty in ways not possible at other institutions.

Fast Facts

96%

Faculty who hold the highest or terminal degree in their field

$1.5 million

In undergraduate and graduate research funds

100+

undergraduate and graduate programs across five schools

Best in the West
The Best 390 Colleges: 2025 Edition
Top 15%

Featured in the Princeton Review Best 390 Colleges list for 2025
 

The Best 390 Colleges: 2025 Edition
Aarya Mishra

Aarya Mishra ’24

Biology Major

Conduct Research with faculty

I really appreciate the importance of research in bettering patient lives. My main research interest is endocrinology, like what I’m doing right now."

Aarya Mishra ’24

Biology Major