More than 750 students are expected to show off the work they have completed April 20 during the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) spring research symposium.
This annual event provides a unique window into the diverse research, scholarship and creative activities that take place at U-M in all fields and disciplines from the biological sciences to theatre and dance.
Free and open to the public, the event is from 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in Palmer Commons. This year’s theme is “Research: The building blocks of the future.”
From 12:30-1:30 p.m., UROP will award seven faculty the Outstanding Research Mentor award and also recognize several other individuals who were nominated by their students as outstanding mentors.
UROP creates research partnerships between first- and second-year students and faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and research scientists from all U-M schools and colleges.
The program started in 1989 with 14 student/faculty partnerships. Today, more than 1,200 students and 700 faculty researchers are engaged in research partnerships — the largest such program in the country.
“By working alongside a U-M researcher in one of the many state of the art research facilities, including libraries, museums and other venues students can enhance their undergraduate experience and advance themselves in a unique way,” says UROP Director Sandra Gregerman.
Students spend the entire year (with a minimum of six hours a week) on a research project and an additional 90 minutes attending biweekly seminars.
“Long nights and frustrating rewrites have plagued my time as a research assistant,” says Andrew Hoppert, a junior from Monroe, “but when I get a finished product, the entire process shifts from a daunting burden to a grandeur feeling of accomplishment.”
Hoppert, who plans to major in both psychology and history, is writing articles that will be published as part of a comprehensive reference work for the Grove Dictionary of American Music.
William “Ben” Rogers, a freshman from Clarkston, says he attended U-M for UROP because he would “learn from an established faculty researcher about a field outside of the classroom.”
Rogers, who plans to major in psychology, is conducting a literature review and statistical analysis for his faculty sponsor, Cleopatra Caldwell. She is an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and co-associate director of the Program for Research on Black Americans.
“I am grateful for the many opportunities I have been given this year, and I am excited for new opportunities to come,” says Rogers, who plans to major in psychology.
The UROP experience helped one graduating senior secure a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship.
Christine Austin started as a first-year student working in Steve Forrest’s lab in September 2007. Forrest is a professor and vice president for research. The fellowship provides full tuition and a $30,000 stipend for students enrolled in a doctoral program in sciences/engineering for three years. Her research has been in organic electronics, and more specifically in solar cells made from organic (carbon-based) materials.
“I really liked working in the lab my first year of UROP, and I had an outstanding research mentor,” she says.
UROP, which is located in the Undergraduate Science Building, is accepting applications for the 2011-12 school year. For more information about the program, go to www.lsa.umich.edu/urop.
