Undergraduate STEM Research: Critical for Competition

Undergraduate research is a powerful accelerator of STEM leadership, cultivating teamwork, resilience, creativity, and fluency in emerging technologies. By embedding research into undergraduate education, we transform students into innovators and prepare them to push science forward. The real question is not whether undergraduates can do research but whether institutions have the courage to scale it into a modern, competitive practice. How does Artificial Intelligence fit in, and can all undergraduates benefit from having a virtual AI scientific team? The time is now to elevate undergraduate research, nationwide, to a more intentional role in supporting STEM competitiveness.