Special Programs and Opportunities

Catalyst is an undergraduate program offering a high-impact portfolio of courses, skills, and experiences designed to help you flourish in the world of work and civic engagement after graduation. In addition to two core courses (one focusing on leadership and collaboration and one on the real-world application of critical thinking skills), you will fulfill electives in global cultural competence, quantitative reasoning and data, and job-specific digital skill sets. The program concludes with a capstone course in which you'll learn to effectively showcase your skills and experience through the creation of a web-based professional portfolio. 

The J. Sanford Miller Family Arts Scholars program is a multidisciplinary collective of undergraduate artists/scholars supported by grants and a creative community. Our Arts Scholars are researchers, creators, interpreters, collaborators, and advocates actively engaged in the arts within the College of Arts and Sciences at UVA and beyond.  

The College Science Scholars program provides a small number of highly qualified undergraduates, selected during admission to the University, with direct access to the very best laboratory research faculty and facilities that can be found at the University. An additional group of Science Scholars is selected from rising second-year students, based on nominations from science and math professors. The program is overseen by the Departments of Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology and Statistics. 

The Echols Scholars Program in the College of Arts & Sciences draws together a diverse community of students united by their potential for significant intellectual engagement at UVA and beyond. Because of their deep curiosity and intrinsic motivation, Echols Scholars enjoy flexibility in their academic requirements in order to pursue their individual scholarly interests.

The Interdisciplinary Major Program offers students with unusual interests, superior ability, and exceptional self-discipline the opportunity to design an individual program of study instead of pursuing a regular department major.

UVA’s Office of Citizen Scholar Development supports undergraduate research through numerous grants and programs, such as the USOAR program, the Undergraduate Research Symposium, and Summer Programs.  They also maintain a scholarship database.