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We are America’s first research university , founded on the principle that by pursuing big ideas and sharing what we learn, we can make the world a better place. For more than 140 years, our faculty and students have worked side by side in pursuit of discoveries that improve lives.

What kinds of discoveries? We made water purification possible, launched the field of genetic engineering, and authenticated the Dead Sea Scrolls. We invented saccharine, CPR, and the supersonic ramjet engine. Our efforts have resulted in child safety restraint laws; the creation of Dramamine, Mercurochrome, and rubber surgical gloves; and the development of a revolutionary surgical procedure to correct heart defects in infants.

The research opportunities here are just endless. That’s really what I was looking for, a place where it’s very easy to do research .

Researchers at our nine academic divisions and at the university’s Applied Physics Laboratory have made us the nation’s leader in federal research and development funding each year since 1979. Those same researchers mentor our inquisitive students—about two-thirds of our undergrads engage in some form of research during their time here.

Research isn’t just something we do—it’s who we are. Every day, our faculty and students work side by side in a tireless pursuit of discovery, continuing our founding mission to bring knowledge to the world.

Zika’s impact on early brain development

Johns Hopkins researchers contribute to breakthrough study showing likely biological link between Zika virus and microcephaly, a birth defect linked to abnormally small head size and stunted brain development in newborns.

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Masks Strongly Recommended but Not Required in Maryland

Respiratory viruses continue to circulate in Maryland, so masking remains strongly recommended when you visit Johns Hopkins Medicine clinical locations in Maryland. To protect your loved one, please do not visit if you are sick or have a COVID-19 positive test result. Get more resources on masking and COVID-19 precautions .

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The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Kimmel Cancer Center spans 34 departments and 5 schools across Johns Hopkins University. At the centerof that growth is our research component. How we conduct our research and translate those results aims directly at the core of our mission: Improved patient care.

Research Programs

• Immune-Related Toxicity Team
• Cancer Chemical and Structural Biology
• Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics (previously Cancer Biology)
• Cancer Immunology
• Cancer Invasion and Metastasis
• Cancer Molecular and Functional Imaging
• Cancer Prevention and Control
• Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplant Program
• Shared Resources

Milestones of Discovery

Milestones timeline.

• The CancerSeek multicancer blood test was studied in nearly 10,000 women with no evidence or history of cancer and safely detected 26 undiagnosed cancers, enabling potentially curative treatment.
• The Convergence Institute, aimed at gathering expertise across Johns Hopkins to look at cancer in new ways and advance the understanding and ultimately treatment, is launched.
• A new mechanism invasive breast cancer cells use to evade the immune system to metastasize was discovered.
• The inflammasome—a protein signaling network that is activated to rid the body of virus or bacteria-infected cells—found to play an important role in triggering an immune response to cancer and causing cancers to respond to PARP inhibitors.
• Elizabeth Jaffee , Elana Fertig , and Luciane T. Kagohara were among the first members selected to the 10x Genomics Visium Clinical Translational Research Network (CTRN) aimed at advancing translational research in cancer and other world health problems.
• A combination of immunotherapy with a targeted therapy improved cancer control for biliary tract cancers.
• Researchers teased out the tumor microenvironment of types of sarcoma and found tumor-associated macrophages hamper the proper immune reaction against the tumors.
• A study found that it may be cost effective to begin colorectal cancer screenings at age 40.
• Stereotactic ablative radiation (SABR) slowed progression of disease in a subset of men with hormone-sensitive prostate cancers that spread to a few separate sites in the body.
• DeepLR computer algorithm showed promise as an accurate tool to help predict which people with lung lesions are likely to develop cancers and when.
• Immunotherapy before surgery used in patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma eliminated cancer in nearly half of the study participants undergoing surgery.
• A blood test that predicts recurrence of gastric cancer in patients after surgery.
• The Johns Hopkins National Proton Therapy Center opened.
• A new test called MANAFEST scours immense amounts of data to find the unique biochemical signatures in each patient’s cancer that can trigger an immune response.
• The Mark Foundation Center for Advanced Genomics and Imaging at the Johns Hopkins University was established.
• A program for managing side effects of immunotherapy piloted by the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute received recognition from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
• Favorable five-year survival rates from the first multidose clinical trial of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (anti-PD-1) as a treatment for patients whose previous therapies failed to control their advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma or non-small-cell lung cancer were reported.
• The largest pancreatic cancer genome-wide association study discovered changes to five new regions in the human genome that may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
• The Johns Hopkins Colorectal Cancer Research Center of Excellence launched.
• The first clinical trial of an immune checkpoint inhibitor before surgery in liver cancer began.
• A new test called CompCyst was developed to distinguish pancreatic cysts that will develop into cancer and need to be surgically removed from cysts that can safely be left alone.
• The only clinical trial among non-muscle invasive bladder cancer trials combined a standard treatment called BCG with a shortened, six-month course of immunotherapy.
• The Greenberg Bladder Cancer Institute launched a women’s bladder cancer program.
• Two studies showed that blood-based liquid biopsies can accurately track cancer treatment responses by measuring circulating tumor DNA during immunotherapy and related treatments for lung and other cancers.
• A broad interdisciplinary research effort at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and Kimmel Cancer Center is aimed at closing racial, economic, and social disparities in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer in the United States and worldwide.
• Our center became one of a few with MRI-guided brachytherapy for gynecologic cancers.
• A new blood test called DELFI detected breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, gastric or bile duct cancers by spotting unique patterns in the fragmentation of DNA shed
• Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee elected President of the American Society for Cancer Research.
• Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Building opens.
• CancerSEEK, a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types and helps identify the location of the cancer, developed.
• Participate in first large-scale study of prostate cancer in African-American men.
• Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy before lung cancer surgery dramatically shrinks tumors.
• Higher mutational burden predicts which cancer types will respond to immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors.
• Mismatch repair discovery leads to the first-ever FDA approval of a cancer drug based on a specific genetic profile without regard to where in the body the cancer started.
• Pediatric oncology site for first CAR-T immunotherapy clinical trials.
• Center to Reduce Cancer Disparities oversees increase in minority and female participation in clinical trials.
• Drug targets cellular machinery called POL1, on which cancer cells rely.
• New immunotherapy drug developed to kill cancer cells by disrupting cell metabolism.
• Development of blood test that detects tumor-derived DNA in patients with early-stage cancers.
• The Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy launched.
• Mutations in mismatch repair genes found to be biomarker of response to immunotherapy.
• Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy shown to improve survival in non-small cell lung cancer patients; also used successfully to treat a rare type of virus-linked skin cancer, called Merkel cell carcinoma.
• A personalized cell therapy, called MILs, using immune cells grown from patients' own bone marrow, is used to treat multiple myeloma.
• The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital opened, adding medical oncology and surgical oncology to the already established and growing Radiation Oncology Program.
• Molecular method called BEAM distinguishes between women who only need routine mammography from those who are at high risk and need additional preventive measures to avoid breast cancer.
• Construction of the Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital begins.
• The John Fetting Fund for Breast Cancer Prevention brings together leaders to launch research in cancer prevention and control.
• CT and MRI-assisted brachytherapy used to treat gynecologic cancers.

Download the  Historical Timeline

Undergraduate Research

A framework for understanding the world around us.

Founded as the nation’s first research university, Hopkins continues to lead with more research and development funding than any other institution in the United States. It shapes how we think and interact with the world, and can happen in a library, lab, studio, stream, outer space, or anywhere you’re pursuing the creation of new knowledge. All undergraduate students have the opportunity to pursue research throughout their time at Hopkins, starting as early as their first year. They can work alongside our world-class faculty, partner with researchers throughout the Hopkins network, or seek out ways to pursue research of their own design.  Whether you’re working on a research project or learning in the classroom, being in a research-oriented environment helps you:

• Ask thoughtful questions
• Explore and connect ideas
• Test your theories
• Communicate your findings
• #1 Research and Development Funding in the U.S.
• $3.4B Annual Research Funding
• 80% Undergraduates With at Least One Formal Research Experience

Resources to get you started

Hopkins supports students in finding and funding research opportunities. Through the Hopkins Office for Undergraduate Research (HOUR) , you can apply for grants to further your ideas.

Create Knowledge

Publish Your Work

An important part of doing research is sharing your knowledge. Our students are publishing books, producing films, presenting at national conferences, and contributing to their fields of study.

Make Something Real

Our students have the opportunity to collaborate with classmates to develop new products, secure patents, and take their designs to market.

Solve Problems

Research teaches you how to ask thoughtful questions and use what you find to make an impact. Our students get involved in projects that have real-world implications and work to solve challenges big and small.

The Intersection of Creativity & Impact

Humanities and Research for All

A $1.9 million Humanities for All grant from the Mellon Foundation enabled the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences to start a lecture series on the importance of humanities research. Through these events, students share their research and inspire future humanists.

Fateh Z., ‘24

Public Health Studies & Economics

Learning Alongside the Very Best

As a rising sophomore, Fateh Z. worked alongside Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Kathryn McDonald—an internationally recognized expert in health care quality and patient safety—on a research project examining how race, gender, ethnicity, and other visible factors impact medical misdiagnoses.

Mufasa C., ‘24

Political Science

Art Installation Memorializes the Thousands of Lives Lost at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Inspired by his family’s immigration story, a political science student volunteered with the Archaeological Museum to create an art installation memorializing the lives of migrants who died crossing the Sonoran Desert.

Paper Museums Class

Hopkins undergraduates organize exhibit at baltimore museum of art.

Students from local universities organized a 100-piece exhibition on artists’ books for the Baltimore Museum of Art. Through meetings with museum staff, they learned the logistics of mounting an exhibition and wrote the label texts for the books.

Support for your ideas

After you declare your major, you’ll be assigned a faculty mentor—an expert in your department who will help you discover courses that fit your interests and opportunities to put your learning into practice.

Undergraduate Research FAQ

Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about doing research as an undergraduate.

Are there research opportunities for undergraduates?

Yes. You can participate in research as early as your first year. For help finding opportunities, visit HOUR .

What majors can participate in research?

All majors across the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering can participate in research.

What kind of time commitment is there for research?

It depends on the project and the number of research credits you register for. Most students commit eight to ten hours a week to their research during the semester, but you can also do more full-time research during the summer and some study abroad experiences.

How do I find a research mentor?

HOUR has guidance for approaching faculty members about research opportunities. We recommend you look around departmental websites and make a list of faculty members you’re interested in working with based on their research background. Then, reach out to them via email or schedule a meeting to see whether they have any availability in their project.

Can I do research while I am studying abroad?

Yes. Many students participate in university-led or independent research projects abroad. This is an opportunity to pursue your interests through an international lens, immersing yourself in another culture while working to create new knowledge. For more information and eligibility requirements, visit the Global Education Office .

Research Insider

Reintroduction to Writing: Working in the Archives

Hopkins research ramblings: unveiling opportunities and adventures, the road to the rhodes, a blessing in disguise: finding mentorship in an unexpected way, quick links:.

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