This article reports the outcomes from the undergraduate research summit held on August 2003 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. This summit brought together an array of stakeholders from the chemistry community, ranging from those with a long history of success in undergraduate research to junior faculty members who have started on a trajectory of success. Participants examined the issues involved in undertaking and sustaining chemistry research at predominantly undergraduate institutions. Discussion at the meeting was facilitated by a series of white papers that addressed topics such as defining undergraduate research, assessing undergraduate research, discerning the value of diversity within the chemical sciences, designing a research-supportive curriculum; and addressing the value of collaborations, the importance of an appropriate infrastructure to support research, the value of initiating and sustaining research productivity throughout an academic career, and the potential barriers to undergraduate research at public comprehensive institutions.