Volunteer Services

UCLA Health Sciences (UHS) Undergraduate Research Clearance Guide

Summary

In collaboration with the UCLA Undergraduate Research Center, the UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office facilitates onboarding and clearance for UCLA undergraduate students who plan to enroll in SRP-99 or upper-division research courses with UCLA Health Sciences faculty. 

UCLA Undergraduate Students must:

  1. Independently secure a research opportunity with a UCLA Health Sciences faculty member.
  2. Register through the faculty’s designated opportunity link and applications will be received by the UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office.
  3. Complete all required onboarding steps to obtain final clearance and active program status.
  4. Maintain active program status under the designated faculty member’s research opportunity and corresponding scope of duties form.

Contracts can only be generated through the Message Center once these steps are complete.

Important Notes:

  • The UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office does not process course enrollment. For enrollment questions, contact the appropriate course representatives (e.g., SRP-99 or upper-division).
  • The Volunteer Office does not process onboarding for non-UCLA students seeking credit from their home institution.

Important Dates and Required Actions

To facilitate a smooth enrollment process and avoid delays or late submissions, the chart below outlines key dates and corresponding actions that must be completed:

UCLA Academic QuarterNew EnrollmentsContinuing Enrollments
Prior to Week 0

Identify a faculty member and request their opportunity link to apply and start onboarding.

  • Begin early—onboarding typically takes 1–3 weeks (excluding background checks or health clearances).
  • If faculty do not have an no active opportunity link, they must contact the Volunteer office to create one and enrollment may be deferred to the next quarter.

Log in to your Volunteer Dashboard to verify placement with your designated faculty. 

  • If active and placed, no action needed. Contact the Volunteer Office if you cannot generate a contract.
  • If not placed, contact the program coordinator immediately for reactivation options.

For questions, please visit our FAQ.

Start of Week 0New requests processed as capacity allows. Earlier submissions will be prioritized, so delays may occur for later requests.Begin re-onboarding with the program coordinator if needed; earlier submissions are prioritized.
Start of Week 1Last chance to start onboarding. Requests submitted after this week may result in deferring enrollment to the next quarter.Last chance to start re-onboarding. Requests submitted after this week may result in deferring enrollment to the next quarter.
Start of Week 2

New requests will not be expedited and may be deferred to the next quarter.

Contract submission deadline is Friday. Clearances must be completed to generate a contract. 

See below to determine when you can generate a contract based on your clearance email date.

Generating A Contract After Clearance

After completing onboarding, you’ll receive an email confirming your clearance. Our system uses UCLA IDs to verify clearances for contract generation. Clearance updates sync with the Message Center at scheduled times—see the table below for details.

If you received the Clearance Email:Try to generate the SRP99-199 contract:
Before 6:40amAfter 7am
Before 12:40pmAfter 1pm
Before 4:40pmAfter 5pm
After 4:40pmAfter 7am the following day

If you are still having issues generating a contract after being cleared, please contact the Volunteer Office to check and troubleshoot.