Undergraduate Research Day Booklets
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This collection contains digital versions of booklets distributed at annual Undergraduate Research Day events.
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Browsing Undergraduate Research Day Booklets by Subject "Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards"
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Item Undergraduate Research Day, April 1, 2021(2021-04-01) Brown, JuliaThis year marks the 16th anniversary of Undergraduate Research Day at the University of Houston. Like so many others in the face of the pandemic, we have shifted all of our operations online to continue supporting the efforts of undergraduate researchers and their faculty mentors. We are grateful to have access once again to the ForagerOne Symposium platform to bring you the most engaging event possible, wherever you may be at this time. Through the 2021 Undergraduate Research Day, we aspire to connect undergraduate researchers to other students, faculty, staff, and professionals in industry to showcase their work. We encourage you to comment or reach out to individual presenters with any questions about their work. Undergraduate Research Day is a collaborative effort between the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards and the Honors College that highlights the diverse range of research projects carried out by University of Houston undergraduate students. The 2021 presenters include students from the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), Mellon Research Scholars Program, and many others who conducted research under the guidance of University of Houston faculty in the past year. We are proud of our students and their accomplishments and they are eager to share their projects with you. To say that the past year has been challenging would be a vast understatement. Our campus community has always shown resilience in the face of adversity, and this has continued to be evident in the undergraduate research community as well. Students have pressed onward with projects, faculty have created remote research opportunities, and our office has incorporated remote contingency planning into application processes to smooth the transition for students who need to shift their work methods. Despite the obstacles presented in the past year, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards has supported students from various departments at the University of Houston through faculty-mentored research programs. The 2020 SURF Program had over 140 participants and 48 students were introduced to research in the Houston Early Research Experience. Over 90 students have been awarded the Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship between January 2020 and January 2021, with most projects occurring remotely. The Mellon Research Scholars Program, now in its fourth year, received a new $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to continue its work preparing students to contribute to their respective fields in the Humanities. Our presenters have collaborated with faculty mentors from a dozen colleges and over 30 departments on campus. Faculty at the University of Houston are dedicated to mentoring students in the pursuit of advancing knowledge in their fields and are always looking for ways to advocate for students' success. Students involved with faculty-mentored research in programs such as Mellon Research Scholars, SURF, or PURS have unique opportunities to develop skills through problem solving, communication, leadership, and critical thinking. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, University of Houston students continue to demonstrate a high level of achievement with their applications for national fellowships and major awards. For the third year in a row, a record number of candidates applied for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program (46) and UH earned its highest number of semi-finalists (25). UH achieved a similar mark for the Critical Language Scholarship. Nine students were named CLS recipients, which is the most in UH history. Thirteen UH students were also admitted to the DAAD RISE and DAAD RISE PRO programs in order to conduct research in Germany. UH fellowship candidates are increasingly competitive for some of the most prestigious awards as well. After earning its first Truman Scholar in 36 years last April, UH matched this success with its first ever Gates Cambridge Scholar. University of Houston students have also been named finalists for the Marshall Scholarship and Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards welcomed two new student staff members in 2020. Nimra Zubair joined as the Graduate Advisor and provides guidance and support to students who wish to apply for competitive fellowships and major awards. She has applied to awards such as the Boren Awards, Fulbright Program, and was awarded the Critical Language Scholarship to study Punjabi. Nimra works closely with students to match them with various opportunities and assists the Office with social media outreach. Nimra holds a Bachelor of Political Science and a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from the University of Houston and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Public Administration. Students interested in applying to major awards or connecting with research opportunities should contact Nimra for more information. Paulina Ezquerra joined as a student worker in the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards and supports Dr. Rikki Bettinger with the Mellon Research Scholars Program, the Houston Early Research Experience, and additional special projects for the Office. A member of the Honors College, Paulina is double-majoring in Philosophy and Political Science. A Mellon Research Scholar, FrameWorks Fellow, and former HERE participant, Ezquerra knows firsthand the difference co-curricular programs can make for young researchers. She plans to continue researching the cultivation of moral and intellectual virtues by pursuing a PhD in philosophy. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards would like to thank the Office of the Provost, the Division of Research, the Honors College, the Cullen College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the Cougar Initiative to Engage, and the many other colleges and departments on campus for their support of undergraduate research programs at the University of Houston. The programs featured here today would not be possible without the support of our campus partners (please see page 4 for listing of supporters). Thank you for joining us for this year's virtual celebration of undergraduate research at the University of Houston. As you engage with the presenters online, we hope you find opportunities to connect across disciplines and ask questions about how we can address some of today's most pressing questions together. Now, more than ever, we acknowledge and appreciate the need for a cohesive global research community. We believe that is the type of community you will see modeled by our presenters today.Item Undergraduate Research Day, April 14, 2022(2022-04-14) Brown, Julia...and welcome back! This year not only marks the 17th anniversary of Undergraduate Research Day, it also represents the return of the University of Houston's premier research exhibition to the MD Anderson Library Building. We are excited for you to experience the energy and spirit of Undergraduate Research Day in person again or for the very first time. Through Undergraduate Research Day, we aspire to connect undergraduate researchers to other students, faculty, staff, and professionals in industry to showcase their work. We encourage you to speak with individual presenters, ask questions, and provide input about their research. Undergraduate Research Day is a collaborative effort between the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, the Honors College, and the MD Anderson Library that highlights the diverse range of research projects carried out by University of Houston undergraduate students. The 2022 presenters include students from programs such as the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), Action Research in Communities (ARC), Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS), Mellon Research Scholars Program, Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH), and many others who conducted research under the guidance of University of Houston faculty in the past year. We are excited to celebrate the research of UH undergraduates, and they are eager to share their projects with you. [...]Item Undergraduate Research Day, September 29, 2020(2020-09-29) Brown, JuliaWelcome to the 15th Annual Undergraduate Research Day. This year has been a whirlwind, to say the very least. We planned to hold Undergraduate Research Day in the spring semester and were looking forward to seeing posters placed throughout the Honors College, the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, and M.D. Anderson Library. As COVID-19 cases appeared in the United States, we postponed our spring research event until September 29th, with hopes that we might be able to have some type of on-campus event. However, cases continued to climb in the U.S., and we made the decision to take the event 100% online. In order to bring you the most engaging research event possible, we have partnered with ForagerOne to bring Undergraduate Research Day to you virtually, wherever you may be at this time. In selecting the format for today, our team took into consideration how you might interact with posters beyond simply viewing them online. We encourage you to comment or reach out to individual presenters with any questions about their work. Undergraduate Research Day is an event that showcases the diverse range of impressive research projects completed by University of Houston undergraduate students. Today's presenters include students from the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program, the Mellon Research Scholars Program, and many others who conducted research under the guidance of University of Houston faculty during the past year. We are incredibly proud of our undergraduate researchers' accomplishments, and they are eager to share their research projects with you. Over the past year and a half, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards has supported students from across the University of Houston through faculty-mentored research programs. The SURF program had over 100 participants in 2019 and over 140 in 2020. The Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship was awarded to over 85 students between Spring 2019 and Spring 2020. In 2019 and 2020, over 90 exceptional students learned how to conduct effective and ethical research through the Houston Early Research Experience (HERE). The Mellon Research Scholars Program welcomed two more dynamic cohorts of students seeking to contribute to their fields and promote diversity and inclusion in the humanities. Our undergraduate researchers come from a variety of majors and have innovative research ideas that can leave a positive, lasting impact. Our students have worked with faculty mentors from 11 colleges and more than 30 departments on campus; their efforts contribute to the broad range of research projects on display here today. Our faculty mentors are devoted to supporting students in the pursuit of advancing knowledge and excellence in their chosen fields. Students who participate in faculty-mentored research programs such as SURF and PURS have opportunities to develop and sharpen their problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. They also gain new perspectives by working with graduate students and faculty on research teams and learn how their work contributes to the greater good. These skills were made apparent to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards team when meeting with each undergraduate researcher over the past year. In our second and third years of the Mellon Research Scholars Program, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards worked with 42 vibrant scholars pursuing research in disciplines across the humanities. Funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and committed to building a diverse academy, the program includes faculty-led seminars, an intensive preparatory graduate school workshop, and a full-time summer research experience for students. While several 2019 Mellon Scholars traveled in the United States and abroad for fieldwork, to access sources for their research, and to improve their language and translation skills, the 2020 cohort of Mellon Scholars have adapted to the challenges of conducting their research remotely. From processing an archival collection, to presenting their research at national conferences, to applying for nationally-competitive fellowships, the Mellon Research Scholars are on the move. Please visit the Mellon Research Scholars website for more information. Undergraduate research continues to play a major role in preparing UH students to apply for national fellowships and major awards. Last year, UH set a number of institutional records. For the first time since 2014, two undergraduates received the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship for excellence in STEM. In addition to three Boren Scholars, UH also recorded its first Critical Language recipients for Urdu and Persian, and its second ever Udall Scholar. Most notably, with the supportive leadership of Provost Paula Myrick Short, 12 students were named Fulbright recipients, thus establishing the University of Houston as a Top Producing Fulbright Institution for 2019-2020. The University of Houston joins an elite group of research institutions to receive this honor and is only one of two schools in Texas to claim such a distinction. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards welcomed two new staff members in 2019. Brittni MacLeod joined as the Associate Director and provides guidance and support to students who wish to pursue research opportunities at the University of Houston. She has previously served in advising roles and managed student leadership, campus involvement, and academic support programs. Please contact Mrs. MacLeod to learn more about getting started in research, the SURF, PURS, and ARC programs, and the Senior Honors Thesis program. Dr. Rikki Bettinger joined as the Program Manager and serves as the Associate Director of the Mellon Research Scholars Program. Dr. Bettinger works directly with the Mellon Scholars as they conduct individual research projects in the humanities and apply to competitive graduate programs and national fellowships. For more information about the Mellon Research Scholars Program and Houston Early Research Experience, please contact Dr. Bettinger. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards would like to thank the Office of the Provost, the Division of Research, the Honors College, the Cullen College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and the many other colleges and departments on campus for their support of undergraduate research programming at the University of Houston. The programs featured here today would not be possible without the support of our campus partners. (Please see page 4 for listing of supporters.) Thank you for joining this year's virtual celebration of the University of Houston's undergraduate research community. As you engage with the 281 presenters online, we hope you learn something new and make lasting connections rooted in scholarship. A strong, resilient research community is more important than ever before, and that is the type of community we believe you will witness today through our students' work.