Undergraduates delve into big science across campus

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has become a summertime magnet for undergraduate students looking to gain hands-on research experience.

Programs supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other sources help UW–Madison open its laboratories and research centers to students who are preparing for graduate school careers. Some of the programs work to help build a more diverse pipeline of students in U.S. graduate schools.

This summer, UW–Madison is sponsoring 88 students in summer research programs, from a field of more than 1,200 applicants from around the nation. The most prominent program is the NSF-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), which is open to any area of research funded by NSF.

One REU program at the UW–Madison Synchrotron Radiation Center (SRC) in Stoughton has five students this summer, hailing from Florida, Minnesota, Idaho, North Carolina and Wisconsin. The students partnered with SRC researchers and were challenged to design and complete a research project over the course of the eight-week program. Students will present their findings on Friday, Aug. 4, from 9:30 to noon in the Physical Sciences Laboratory conference room.

More undergraduate research presentations in the fields of education, microbiology, symbiosis and environmental toxicology are taking place throughout this week. For more information on summer research opportunities, contact Dorothy Sanchez, assistant dean of the UW–Madison Graduate School, at (608) 265-2906, dsanchez@bascom.wisc.edu.