Program to boost undergrad research

First- and second-year students targeted

For years, the words “undergraduate” and “research” generally were not included in the same sentence at large research universities. Research was the realm of faculty and graduate students only.

That is changing. Research has become an integral part of undergraduate education on many campuses, and more than 3,000 undergraduates at UW–Madison, mostly juniors and seniors, participate in research each year.

Now, a new trend is emerging: providing research opportunities for beginning students. UW–Madison will move in this direction starting this spring, with its new Undergraduate Research Scholars Program.

“We want to change the culture so that having first- and second-year undergraduates engaged in research with faculty is the norm rather than the exception,” says A. Margaret Elowson, director of the new program.

Twelve to 14 students will inaugurate the program when the spring semester begins Jan. 19. Elowson hopes to enroll 50 students in URS by next fall and 75 students in fall 2000.

Students must apply for the program, and those selected will meet regularly in seminars to learn about the university’s research culture, ethics, interpersonal communication, and how to effectively communicate about their research.

“We are looking for students with the potential and motivation to work in an inquiry role,” Elowson says.

URS students will be matched with peer mentors – upperclassmen who have already worked as research assistants. Each peer mentor will undergo specialized training and assist 12-15 students. Students will be grouped by their areas of interest. Robert Goodman, professor of plant pathology, says he is getting more and more inquiries about research opportunities from freshmen, sophomores and even high school students who are enrolled at UW–Madison but haven’t started classes.

“This is wonderfully responsive to what I see as a trend in my contact with students,” says Goodman, who chairs the undergraduate molecular biology major. “And it is really excellent in terms of getting students started with research. When they are juniors and seniors they will have the experience and maturity to decide if the life of a scientist or researcher is for them.”

URS will be a campus-wide program encompassing all academic disciplines, not just the sciences. Elowson says it will complement – and not duplicate – current undergraduate research programs on campus, including the Hilldale Undergraduate Research Awards, the College of Letters and Science Honors Program and the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program.

Both students and faculty members can benefit from early research opportunities, says Doug Henderson, associate professor of engineering physics.

“Depending on the time a faculty member is willing to invest, the interaction with these students can be very beneficial,” Henderson says. “The students often times formulate new research ideas, and it is nice to have some extra hands to initiate research.”

UW–Madison’s program is modeled after the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. UROP began in 1989 with 14 students, and it now has 800 beginning undergraduates engaged in research with faculty. Forty percent of UROP participants are students of color. Elowson hopes to reach out to underrepresented students through URS as well, especially students of color, first-generation college students and female students in math and science.

“If I am not able to incorporate a large number of these types of students into the program, then I will have not done my job well,” says Elowson.

As part of URS, Elowson is already working with campus colleagues to organize two Undergraduate Research Symposiums, which would highlight and reward top research by beginning students. She also wants to create a campus-wide Undergraduate Research Council, which would encourage the sharing of resources and ideas and develop partnerships among faculty and staff to seek more public and private grant money for research projects. Many large research universities are warming to the idea of offering research opportunities to first- and second-year undergraduates, says Elaine Hoagland, national executive officer of the Council of Undergraduate Research in Washington, D.C.

Hoagland says the benefits of early undergraduate research can be long lasting. She knows a college professor who used research he conducted as a freshman at Harvard in his doctoral dissertation.

“A student can start and continue research at any time,” Hoagland says.