By Freesia Singngam
The Daily Campus - February 09, 2007

With students engineering biodiesel monitors outside of the classroom, monitoring stem cells in labs and creating new set designs in theaters, undergraduate research is on the rise at UConn, following a trend of many universities across the nation.

"Undergraduate research, it's definitely on the rise," said Dr. Jennifer Lease Butts, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. "We're seeing more universities putting more offices in for undergraduate research."

Lease Butts has been director of the Office of Undergraduate Research for 1 1?2 years and has noticed an increase in applicants for research at UConn.

"Students are interested in not just theories and facts and figures, but application," Lease Butts said. "I think that they're looking for a way to learn material differently."

The Office of Undergraduate Research does three main things, according to Lease Butts. It assists with placement of students in research, hosts an annual showcase of research called "Frontiers" and offers grants to fund research. The office works with faculty, schools and foundations to give students research opportunities and funding.

"It's being a part of a community of scholars, really," Lease Butts said. "It's a good personalization of education."

Lease Butts estimates that about 75 students have visited the Office of Undergraduate Research in the past year to start research.

About 100 students applied for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) grant, and about 50 applied for the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR grant), Lease Butts estimated. Between summer 2005 and summer 2006, there was a 40 percent increase in applications for SURF grants.

Those numbers do not include students who were already working on research or found research on their own. There is no requirement for people to report outside undergraduate research, so the numbers may be much higher, Lease Butts said.

When most people think of research, they think about people in labs. However, research is conducted in every subject.

For example, researchers in the dramatic arts may research new set design, and economic researchers may look at statistical analysis.

"As a research-extensive university, every faculty on campus is conducting research," Lease Butts said. "The good news for students is, no matter what your major is, your faculty [members] are conducting research."

Both faculty and students benefit from undergraduate students getting involved in research.

Joanne Conover, an assistant professor in physiology and neurobiology, typically has three or four students each semester to help her conduct research, she said.

Her work involves studying new neutrons in adult brains and stem cells.

"We're looking at how neuro stem cells may be used in injury and disease," Conover said.

Often, Conover keeps the same students to work in the lab for two to three years, she said.

She likes to include undergraduates in her work because "they bring a lot of energy to the lab," Conover said. "They research from a different perspective. Some of them are really talented."

Students understand that undergraduate research is good preparation for graduate school or their future work. Students can research in any discipline and start at any point, Lease Butts said.

"As a chem. major, undergraduate research is recommended," said Brian Matthew, a 6th-semester chemistry major who is graduating this spring. "On top of that, I knew I had to write a thesis for the whole honors part of this."

Matthew conducts research on biodiesel. He found work after he finished courses for analytical chemistry and his advisor invited him to work on a project with him.

"It's mostly an engineering project, but they need to find a way to monitor when the reaction to make biodiesel from the vegetable oil is finished, so I'm working on a monitor to do that," Matthew said.

Emilie Frank, a 4th-semester environmental science major, has been working in a lab with her faculty advisor for academic credit.

"I wanted to get lab experience and see what it's actually like to work in a lab,"

Frank said. She also wanted to get ideas for writing her honors thesis later on.

Last semester, Frank took measurements and photos of live-bearing fish to help with her professor's research. This semester, she will get different work, she said.

Jason Corbo, a 6th-semester pharmacy major, is in the process of starting undergraduate research.

"I'm doing it as part of my thesis, but also, it's something I'm interested in," Corbo said.

Corbo approached one of his professors on the subject of health behavior aspects associated with prescription drugs, and he started reading articles about it.

Some students are on a waiting list to be paired with a faculty member to do research. However, the only area where there is a waiting list in the office is in biological sciences, Lease Butts said. These students are sometimes able to find research in other disciplines such as chemistry.

"More often than not, we've got good placement," Lease Butts said.

If faculty members have openings for research, they are able to post on the Office of Undergraduate Research Web site.
  

Source (2/12/07):  http://www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2007/02/09/news/2007/02/09/News/Undergrad.Research.Rising.Trend.At.Uconn-2709760.shtml