Education, science and technology, and talent are the cornerstones of modern national development, with universities serving as the core frontlines for innovation and talent cultivation. In recent years, many universities have encouraged students to engage in research activities during their undergraduate years, and existing research has shown that undergraduate participation in research significantly enhances academic engagement and success. However, most existing studies focus on curriculum-based undergraduate research, with relatively few studies on project-based research. Moreover, many of these studies lack long-term tracking data and quantitative analysis. Based on the project-based research experience in Chinese universities, this study uses a decade-long tracking dataset. It employs multiple linear regression and Logit models to explore the impact of project-based research experience on undergraduates' research careers. The results show that project-based research experience positively influences undergraduates' research careers in three key areas: level of participation, peer effects, and external evaluations. The higher the level of participation, the better the external evaluation, and the stronger the peer effect, the more significant the project's impact on the undergraduates' research careers. Compared to regular members, project leaders perform more prominently in terms of academic paper publications and obtain higher final degrees. The study also reveals that these impacts vary across different disciplines. To maximize the role of these projects in identifying and cultivating research talent, improvements in management models, incentive mechanisms, and evaluation systems are urgently needed. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
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