Year of Undergraduate Research
About the Year of Undergraduate Research
Your Research.
Your Future.
YoUR USU.
In 2025, Utah State University celebrated 50 years of pioneering undergraduate research with the Year of Undergraduate Research (YoUR) a campus-wide initiative designated by President Noelle Cockett and unanimously supported by the President's Executive Committee in April 2023.
Anchored by the tagline ‘Your Research. Your Future. YoUR USU’, the initiative honored the launch of the Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) grant program in February 1975.
Across 2025, YoUR brought together students, faculty, alumni, and community partners through a series of events, campaigns, and installations celebrating the past, present, and future of undergraduate research at USU.
A Legacy of Discovery
USU's commitment to undergraduate research began in February 1975, when President Glen Taggart launched a pilot Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) grant program in the Colleges of Agriculture and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. What began as an experiment expanded within a year to all eight colleges making USU one of the earliest public universities in the nation to institutionalize undergraduate research support at scale.
The fifty years since have seen that commitment deepen: from early student space research on the Space Shuttle, to nationally recognized award programs, to a campus-wide culture of mentored inquiry spanning every discipline. The 2025 Year of Undergraduate Research marked that half-century milestone and set the course for the next fifty years.
Rocket ship icon YoUR Horizons
As part of YoUR, USU’s Office of Research launched Horizons an interdisciplinary research entrepreneurship program inviting undergraduate teams to tackle major real-world challenges. Open to all USU undergraduates, Horizons asked students to analyze problems and propose innovative solutions, with cash prizes for the strongest pitches. The program’s inaugural year ran through the 2024–25 academic year, with final presentations in April 2025.
Horizons continues as a standalone initiative.
YoUR 2025 Timeline
January 13–17, 2025
YoUR Launch Exhibition
January 13–17, 2025 YoUR Launch Exhibition Opening of the undergraduate research exhibit in the Caine and Tippetts Galleries, Fine Arts Complex. Celebrating 50 years of research across USU's eight colleges, with works curated by undergraduate students including lead curator Adrianne Parker.
January 2025
UR Gala
Launch event for the Year of Undergraduate Research, featuring prominent undergraduate research alumni and remarks from university leadership.
January 20, 2025
Research on Capitol Hill
USU undergraduate researchers presented their work to Utah legislators, with YoUR and Horizons branding.
April 2025
Horizons presentations
The culminating presentations of the first Horizons competition in April 2025, where interdisciplinary undergraduate teams pitched innovative solutions to global challenges. Teams competed for cash prizes, showcasing entrepreneurial and collaborative approaches to complex problems in front of a panel of decision makers and a live and streaming audience.
April 2025
Research Week / Spring Student Research Symposium
A special edition of Research Week with enhanced focus on undergraduate contributions, including Horizons finalist presentations and the prize announcement.
June–August 2025
Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Expanded summer research programming supporting students through mentorship, stipends, and community — building a more robust centrally-supported summer research experience.
October 2025
URCO Festival
Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the URCO grant program — the founding moment of USU's undergraduate research legacy, launched by President Glen Taggart in February 1975.
November–December 2025
Fall Student Research Symposium
Research symposium celebration of the Year of Undergraduate Research, featuring keynote speakers, student presentations, and recognition of the year's achievements.
January 2026
YoUR closing installation
A retrospective installation for YoUR held in the foyer of the Merrill-Cazier library.