Undergraduate research becoming integral part of VCU

Katelyn Boone
Staff Writer

During the Third Annual Research Week at VCU, students from all disciplines shared their creativity and passion for research in several poster and project presentations. The week marks an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students alike to show their work and begin a discussion among those in the community and university.

The events during the annual research fair display some of the creative and scientific developments from students and faculty at the university.

Undergraduate research in particular has significantly increased over the past four years at VCU, according to Herbert Hill, the coordinator for undergraduate research at VCU.

The week began with engineering students sharing their innovative designs with the community at the Senior Design Expo last weekend. Events later in the week included the Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, the VCU Venture Creation Competition, the School of Social Work Research Symposium and the inaugural VCU Global Health Symposium on Friday.

Christian Ruiz, a freshman chemistry major, presented research from his UNIV 200 course at the poster symposium on Wednesday. Ruiz said his research as an undergraduate has “allowed me to be more well-rounded; I’m not just doing pre-pharmacy work.” Ruiz also presented his “Analysis of Prescribed Gender Roles Through the Use of Dissociative Identity Disorder in Contemporary Film,” poster to the the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this past year.

Hill said he is continually surprised by the quality of work the students produce every year during the research celebration. “I get to see everything … all of the posters and all of the different abstract(s), and I am just blown away every year by how sophisticated this stuff is, how gorgeous some of these posters are and how creative some of the students are,” Hill said.

In its inaugural debut in 2009, 68 students presented at the Undergraduate Poster Symposium. The fifth-year anniversary of the symposium will host over 280 students.

Since starting at VCU in 2009, Hill has worked to make research opportunities accessible to faculty and students, and has spent a significant amount of time developing the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. The UROP program extends to all departments to help facilitate undergraduate research and also offers a summer fellowship to students.

“(The office of research) almost doubled the amount of UROP fellowships we can give out this year, and the application numbers are growing. … It’s great to see the amount of student and faculty engagement growing,” Hill said.

The student-run research journal, Auctus, is also making a comeback at VCU to publish more student-produced research articles. Auctus began in 2009 at VCU, but only published one issue. The new online version of the journal plans to publish annually and feature peer-reviewed papers from students in science, technology, engineering and math majors as well as some submission from the social sciences, humanities and other creative publications.

Lauren Collie, the managing editor of Auctus, received a UROP fellowship grant to revive Auctus last summer, and said her goal is to “help foster the ability to do research … and put out a great research journal at VCU.”

Hill said it is rare for undergraduates to have their names published in academic journals. Garrett Atkinson, a senior biomedical engineering major, began doing research in M. Samy El-Shall’s chemistry lab after taking Chemistry 101 his freshman year. Atkinson has already been published twice and is working on two more research papers. “Not many undergrads get to do stuff like that; it’s pretty freaking cool,” Atkinson said.

Hill said he will continue to foster and accommodate the demand for undergraduate student research at VCU.

“If you are interested in something to the extent that you feel compelled to learn more about it, then research is something you probably want to consider,” he said. “(Research) is not just a resume builder; it can be personally fulfilling.”