College of Healthcare Sciences' Undergraduate Research Internship (URI)

The Undergraduate Research Internship (URI) is a Work-Integrated Learning opportunity designed to enrich students' coursework learning via applied research experience prior to completing their undergraduate studies. It is founded on providing mentorship and the formal opportunity to work through the research process. As an annual program, it pairs undergraduate students with JCU researchers.

The bespoke CHS program has been designed to suit JCU students: it is grounded in evidence-based practice and flexible enough to support remote participation as well as varying work and life demands. Underpinning parameters, based on best practice for research-based Work-Integrated Learning, include: (1) prioritising student learning in the interaction between student and mentor; (2) enabling student-peer and student-staff networking; (3) engaging students in discipline-specific professional development; and (4) transparently outlining program expectations to support high-quality supervision experiences.

Through the URI, students have designed study protocols, completed ethics applications, collected and analysed quantitative and qualitative data, and performed systematic reviews involving meta-analyses. Participating gives students the opportunity to develop stronger research skills, such as using primary literature, developing strong research questions and hypotheses, conducting data analysis, and interpreting and disseminating findings. Past participants also report increased confidence – in conducting research independently and also in terms of professional resilience, time management, and collaborating with peers and supervisors. In fact, research data from a pre-post program survey indicate that URI participants rated their perceived confidence, communication skills, self-direction abilities, and critical thinking skills significantly higher after their participation compared to before taking part in the URI.

Student participation in the URI is voluntary. To get an idea of how the URI program works, you may wish to check out the 2025 program handbook and/or watch this short YouTube video here.

You can also reach out to the URI Coordinator, Dr Amanda Krause at amanda.krause1@jcu.edu.au.