While graduate students do conduct a lot of research and spend countless hours in laboratories and other facilities, the University also offers many research opportunities to undergraduate students.
Programs such as the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Biological Sciences Program, the Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and Summer Research in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry all offer undergraduates a chance to conduct research first-hand in actual laboratory settings.
Sheri Wischusen, coordinator of the University’s Howard Hughes Program, said the program uses a substantial grant to the College of Basic Sciences to do undergraduate research, as well as teacher outreach programs and teacher loan programs.
Wischusen said the Howard Hughes program offers undergraduate students an opportunity to find out what actual scientific research is like and to think about actual problems researchers encounter.
“It’s a really good opportunity for them to find out if they want to do that,” Wischusen said.
Although the program offers undergraduate students an opportunity to do hands-on research, Wischusen said the program is intensive.
Wischusen said students who participate in the summer program have no outside jobs and take no other classes. Students are given a stipend and also receive two hours of course credit.
“We expect this laboratory job to be a full time job for them,” Wischusen said.
Despite the long hours and hard work involved, Wischusen said students have been “overwhemingly positive” about the program.
“It’s a rewarding experience, and they find out what research is like,” Wischusen said.
Wischusen said the work basically is the same as graduate students do, and undergraduates have the opportunity to consult with graduate students on the research.
Susie Thomas, program coordinator for two University programs funded by the National Science Foundation, said the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program allows undergraduates the chance to work alongside researchers and professors in fields such as chemistry, biology and physics.
Thomas said the programs give undergraduates a “taste of what graduate school is like.”
Thomas said the response to the programs has been overwhelming, and she has received many more applicants than she could accept.
Thomas said both programs offer a $3,500 stipend, and students who take part in the programs receive three hours of course credit.
Ralph Portier, chair of the environmental studies department, said undergraduate students in the department have the chance to work on real-life environmental problems such as cleaning oil spills.
Portier said some students are able to work on practicums that are part of a larger research effort, and may have their names included in research publications.