Undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences are getting hands-on research experience through the Arts and Sciences Program in Research, or ASPIRE.Through ASPIRE, founded last year by former dean Guillermo Ferreyra, undergraduates submit a topic of research interest, and Janet McDonald, associate dean and head of ASPIRE, pairs students with professors in similar fields of research, with the ultimate goal of attending a conference where the students will present research findings. “The idea is to get you as an undergraduate beyond the classroom experience,” McDonald said. “Going to class is great, but one of the best ways to learn something is to learn by doing it.”McDonald said the pilot program last year proved successful, and the program’s funding now supports room for [20 students and advisers.] Currently, 18 students are enrolled in the program.The program is funded by grants from the Board of Regents and the College of Arts and Sciences totaling $65,000 for two years, McDonald said.The professors do not get paid for participation in the program, but some become co-authors on the research project.ASPIRE pays for the student, as well as the mentor, to attend the conference, plus expenses equaling up to $1,000.”That’s the unique and really fantastic part about ASPIRE because most undergraduate students do not get the opportunity to go to such a conference, let alone present at it,” McDonald said.McDonald said conferences can range from regional, national and international. Last year, one student traveled to Dublin, Ireland, for his presentation.Christina Gary, communication disorders senior, will present her research findings at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association on Nov. 21 in New Orleans.Gary said she is glad ASPIRE will fund her trip because conferences can be expensive. Gary said Brittan Barker, communication disorders professor, supervises her work on a project entitled “Mothers’ speech to infants with and without Down syndrome,” where Gary analyzes recordings of mothers playing with their infants and tracks if there is a difference between how mothers communicate with children with Down syndrome and those without it. “These conferences are very competitive,” McDonald said. “So far, all of our students have been accepted in their conferences because they are doing good work and are being mentored really well.”McDonald said the presentation is a great way for the students to network, and it will give them an advantage when applying to graduate school.”It’s very unusual to have either a conference presentation or publication as an undergraduate, so if you’re interested in going to law school, medical school or graduate school, that’s going to make you stand out and let you get looked at seriously,” she said.Charlotte Gates, psychology senior, traveled to Minneapolis in September to give a poster presentation on her research on the neurocognition of schizotypy — the genetic risk for developing schizophrenia.”It’s the best thing I’ve done academically to prepare for grad school,” she said.Applications for the ASPIRE program are available at the College of Arts and Sciences’ Web site. —-Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]