Graduate School plans summer research opportunities conference
The Graduate School is hosting the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) Conference Friday-Sunday, July 15-17, in collaboration with the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC).
The Committee on Institutional Cooperation, established in 1958, is the academic consortium of 12 major teaching and research universities in the Midwest. CIC member institutions host SROP to introduce underrepresented students to research at a top-notch university with the goal of encouraging them to attend graduate school. The SROP was initiated in 1986 by the CIC graduate deans to encourage talented undergraduate students to pursue graduate study and subsequently academic careers.
UW–Madison has 12 summer research programs, which bring approximately 120 students to campus each summer. The programs run for eight-10 weeks. Students receive intensive research experiences while working one-on-one with faculty mentors and graduate students. Each student writes a paper and an abstract describing their projects and presents the results of their work at department symposiums.
Not only does SROP make a difference in attracting participants to graduate school, SROP brings students to graduate school at UW–Madison. Elizabeth Rondon, an alumnus of the REU-Microbiology program and current microbiology doctoral student writes, “The summer program I participated in was the reason I went to graduate school. …I had no idea that there was such a research powerhouse in Madison and how many incredible opportunities for research there are here.”
Manual Alvarez participated in the Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and currently is a graduate student in engineering. He says he never would have considered Madison for graduate school, but UW–Madison went to the top of the list following his summer experience.
This year’s SROP conference, “Networking for Scholarly Achievement,” will focus on the art and skill of networking for academic and professional success. There will be workshops on graduate admissions, GRE preparation and research ethics, as well as research presentations by SROP alumni, research posters, speakers, research roundtables and a graduate school recruiting fair. In addition, there will be several opportunities panels designed to showcase the breadth of careers open to those with graduate degrees.
The Graduate School looks forward to hosting this outstanding research conference and promoting Madison as an ideal place for graduate school. There will be numerous opportunities for faculty, staff and students to volunteer to help.
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For questions, contact Bonnie Koch at koch@bascom.wisc.edu or Kathi Matthews-Risley at krisley@bascom.wisc.edu.
Tags: learning