Journeys of a thousand miles begin with a single center
University students looking to make an impact in different areas of the world now have a common launching point.
Posted 11/15/02
Elizabeth Whelan (Poetry Writing, Religious Studies ’03) took this photograph in Honduras during relief efforts following Hurricane Mitch. Her work was supported by a Harrison Undergraduate Research Grant.
Photo by Elizabeth Whelan.
They travel to Honduras, Africa, even North Dakota. They investigate civic participation in the United States, brain development, the retinal clock, spoken Czech, poverty and Pentecostalism.
And now U.Va. undergraduate students looking for these research experiences can begin at the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, a new office designed to help them identify and develop their intellectual interests to the fullest.
“The center is an incredible resource to the many bright and capable students considering research as a way to augment their undergraduate studies,” said Assistant Dean Nicole Farmer Hurd (PhD, Religious Studies ’02). The expanded operation, formerly the College Fellowships Office, also oversees the undergraduate fellowship and interdisciplinary major programs, which Hurd believes to be “natural fits” with undergraduate research.
Although it’s based in the College, the center is open to students from across the University. As center director, Hurd works alongside Assistant Dean William Wilson and the student-run Undergraduate Research Network to cultivate undergraduate research on Grounds.
Shadi Kourosh (Chemistry-Biochemistry ’03) and Lauren Purnell (Political & Social Thought ’03) approached the Faculty Senate and others with the network idea in the fall of 2001.
“Our hope was that an undergraduate research office would give any student with an idea a place to begin and people to talk to,” said Kourosh, who as the network’s current chair spoke of its larger purpose of creating a research culture on Grounds.
This need also became clear to Hurd and Wilson as they advised students in the fellowships office, and accordingly, they worked with the offices of the President, Provost, Dean, Student Affairs and Faculty Senate to create the center.
The center is developing ways to showcase U.Va.’s undergraduate research. The Brain Food series, for example, brings together faculty, students and administrators weekly for a lunchtime presentation by two undergraduate researchers. The office sponsored a daylong research symposium during the fall, and plans are under way for Undergraduate Research Week this spring. Plus, The Oculus, a journal of undergraduate research that students published for the first time last year, is now slated for semi-annual publication.
A Web-based database lists research opportunities both on Grounds and nationwide, faculty mentors, available grants and fellowships and University-wide research events. Outreach efforts and workshops on such matters as writing grant proposals and conducting research in science, social science and humanities also are on the agenda.
Hurd credits the Undergraduate Research Network for much of the creative programming being developed. “When the office expansion was under way, it was absolutely crucial to us that students remain the focus and the voice. They are so incredibly innovative and passionate about giving this opportunity to their peers.”
Kourosh, who conducts research in the chemistry department, shared the student perspective: “We believe that if conducting and presenting research is a regular, familiar and even expected part of academic life at U.Va., there will be no intimidation or energy barrier to holding symposiums, applying for competitive fellowships, or taking ownership of one’s educational career.”