In recent years, advocates for research-based education have publicized many examples of passive research involvement, defined as undergraduates learning about the content and lived experience of research at their institution. But the qualitative dimensions of passive research involvement remain unknown. The authors' study uses Diana Laurillard's "conversational framework" to analyze reports from 367 undergraduate students at a UK research-intensive university who met researchers and learned about their work. The results show a range of experiences in student learning about faculty research. These findings make the case that passive research involvement has its own integrity and cannot be characterized as an absence of participation. The authors suggest ways that the students as audience category can enhance undergraduate connections with research.