The Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching and Learning are pleased to announce an initiative that will fund Undergraduate Research and Mentoring projects at Queens College during the Spring 2010 semester.  This initiative is based on a successful program that ran from 1994 until 2004. This year’s re-launch constitutes a pilot, to show proof of interest from our faculty and students. The initiative funds outstanding activities, from any academic discipline, in which undergraduates and faculty collaborate in research or other scholarly or creative work.

The response to the call for proposals released in Fall 2009 was unprecedented. We received over 50 proposals from all four academic divisions. We will seek to extend this program in the upcoming academic year. We thank everyone who took the time to submit a proposal. The response demonstrates a broad interest on campus in extending undergraduate research opportunities.

Stay tuned for an announcement about the continuation of this program in the 2010-2011 academic year.

Spring 2010 pilot

Click here to read more about the projects for the spring 2010 pilot.

Award notifications were sent out by email on November 19.  An inaugural gathering for the research teams was held on December 14, 2009, at 4:30 in the Agora.

 Funding period – January-August 2010

Expectations – Successful projects will enable faculty mentors to integrate their research interests in ways that will not only promote their scholarship, but also provide for students intellectual engagement and exciting interaction with the discipline. Successful projects will also foster the development of new skill sets in students, via their participation in writing abstracts or papers, reporting research at conferences, or exhibiting or performing their work.

Dissemination – Toward the end of the funding period, we will ask award recipients to provide a brief summary of the outcomes of their project(s), including accomplishments and future directions. We are also planning a mini-conference, in September 2010, to highlight the work carried out by the undergraduates involved in the awards, and will disseminate information about the most successful projects electronically and in Queens College promotional literature.

UR/ME organizing committee – Stephen Pekar (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences), Kristin Celello (History), Edward Smaldone (Aaron Copland School of Music), Dean Savage (Sociology), Eva Fernández (Center for Teaching & Learning)

Learn more about undergraduate research:

• CUNY's Science Undergraduate Research Program (a summer research program for undergraduates interested in research careers in the sciences or engineering)
• CUNY's Pipeline Program (supports underrepresented CUNY undergraduates interested in pursuing advanced degrees)
• Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) (undergraduates with research experience are encouraged to register at the Registry of Undergraduate Researchers, a registry designed to connect undergraduates with research experience and an interest in an advanced degree with graduate schools looking for well prepared student.)
• National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (a national venue for undergraduate researchers to share their research and network with peers and faculty.)
• NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program (a program that funds projects involving students, in any of the areas the NSF supports; students interested in participating in research at an REU site should contact REU sites directly)