Undergraduate Research Registration
Research Registration Process
This page outlines the steps a student needs to complete in order to register for CSE research. The registration process varies based on whether the student is an Allen School student or a non-major student. Please complete the registration process below based on your major.
All Allen School students must register their research via the Allen School Research Registration Tool. If you are not an Allen School undergraduate student, you are not responsible for completing the same steps to register for research. To help students determine which steps they should complete, we created this online guidance for research registration.
Allen School Students
The process below is applicable to Allen School Undergraduates, please review this flowchart for a visual representation of the research registration process. The research registration process should be completed after a student has secured a research position.
Once you have agreed upon the research credit type and/or pay arrangement, you must complete the Undergraduate Mentee Agreement Online Form. All Allen School students are required to complete this agreement form. For reference, here is a google doc as well just so you can see the full depth of questions addressed.
You are expected to discuss this form with your faculty or graduate student mentor prior to submitting and will be required to email your research mentor a copy of your responses to the form after submitting it.
If you are continuing a research project beyond the quarter you originally submitted the original agreement form for, when you submit the research request in your MyCSE tool, you must select that you are either renewing the original agreement you made in a prior quarter, OR complete the “updates form” to submit minor updates to your agreement.
You can do research for course credit or for pay.
You should not be expected to provide volunteer work for graduate students or faculty. If you are asked to volunteer, please contact ugrad-adviser@cs with the situation so our Undergraduate Student Services leadership can have a conversation with the graduate students and/or faculty.
You should use the CSE research registration tool to either get the add-code you need to enter when you register for classes, or to kick start the payroll information if you will be paid. You will need both the faculty and graduate student’s (if applicable) name/CSE email to complete the form.
If you wish to receive course credit for doing research, register during the quarterly class registration process.
Each research credit hour carries the expectation of three hours of work per week (1 credit = 3 hours per week, 2 credits = 6 hours per week, etc.). Your faculty adviser will submit your grades at the end of the quarter. Research credits can be C/NC or can be subject to the UW’s numerical and letter grading system. CSE 496 (Honors) and CSE 498 are graded research credits while CSE 499 is credit/no credit grading.
If you are pursuing CSE or College honors, sign up for honors, CSE 496. Honors students must do research and write a senior thesis. Make sure you are familiar with the CSE honors enrollment process and expectations.
NOTE: Students who wish to participate in research opportunities outside of CSE can only use it toward CSE senior electives if they get a CSE faculty sponsor and register for CSE 498/496 credit. Please discuss this with an advisor if you have questions about conducting research in another department and applying it toward CSE requirements.
After you’ve completed the mentee agreement form and submitted the research request in the CSE Research Registration Tool, the research faculty mentor will approve or deny your request. If your request is approved, you will receive an add code via email to register via Register. UW for research credits. It is very important that you actually complete this step to receive research credit.
CSE Research Workflow – Allen School Students Only
- Discuss project type (paid or credit) and time commitment with mentor.
- Complete the Undergraduate Research Mentee Agreement Form.
- Mentor completes the Undergraduate Research Mentor Agreement Form.
- Submit a research request in MyCSE.
- Faculty/graduate mentor reviews your agreement responses.
- Faculty approves or denies the request.
- If approved:
- Credit → Faculty code sent to student
- Pay → Payroll + grant manager notified; offer letter sent
- Register for the approved credits using the faculty code received via email.
Research Registration for Non‑Allen School Students
Non-Allen School students working with Allen School full-time, adjunct, or affiliate faculty, may earn CSE 498 or CSE 499 research credits. CSE 498 is graded research credit, while CSE 499 is credit/no credit grading. Non-major students cannot earn CSE 496 research credit.
Non-majors do not complete research registration via the CSE Research Registration Tool. Non-major research registration is facilitated via email. Students must receive written faculty approval clearly stating that the student is working with the faculty and should earn CSE research credits. Once the student has written faculty approval, they should forward faculty permission to enroll in CSE 499 or CSE 498 to ugrad-adviser@cs.washington.edu. Then, a faculty code will be sent to the student to enroll in CSE 499 or CSE 498.
Non-major students are not required to complete the mentor/mentee agreement form; however, it is encouraged as a best practice to ensure students and their research mentor are operating with the same understanding of the research expectations.. Students can make a copy of this Google doc to complete with their research mentor if they would like. Non-major students cannot use the CSE Research Registration tool to register for research.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Allen School students need a new mentor/mentee agreement each quarter?
- If the undergraduate student is continuing on with the same research project, mentor, number of credits/type of credits, or pay, they do not need to re-submit a new mentor/mentee agreement form. However, please note they will be required to request the credits/position in the MyCSE portal each quarter you participate in research.
- If they change the research credit type, number of credits, or switch to/from a paid position, they must submit an update to your research mentor/mentee agreement form in subsequent quarters.
- All undergraduate researchers and their mentors must submit a new agreement form at the start of each academic year, regardless of prior agreements submitted.
Do non‑Allen School students need the agreement?
- It’s a good idea to fill it out so you have a solid idea that you and your mentors are all on the same page. We include the contents of the Mentor/Mentee Agreement here in the form of a google doc in case that is helpful.