Research opportunities for undergraduates in the social sciences remain relatively rare. If they exist at all they are usually in the natural sciences and engineering. In study abroad the situation is particularly pronounced: a semester or year abroad is still more a time for cultural and linguistic immersion than it is for building specific academic skills and knowledge, including how to plan and conduct independent research. At Northwestern University, over the past five years an innovative series of workshops have been developed that train and prepare undergraduates to conduct meaningful research while they are abroad. The Study Abroad Research Program (SARP) has helped over 200 undergraduates from all disciplines, including German, return from overseas to develop their projects into honors theses and prestigious research fellowships. This paper briefly details the development of undergraduate research as a national priority and then lays out the rationale, structure, and outcomes of the SARP initiative, including its impact on students in the German Department.