Undergraduate Research Day, October 13, 2016

We are delighted you are here to participate in the largest Undergraduate Research Day event to date. We have more than 200 undergraduates presenting, and their work reflects the depth, breadth, and diversity of research being conducted by the University's talented faculty and students. We encourage you to engage, ask questions, and to share in the accomplishments and new insights this past year of research has generated for these remarkable students. During the 2015-2016 academic year, the Office of Undergraduate Research sponsored over 200 students from across the University in faculty mentored research programs, and provided support to hundreds more through informational sessions and online resources. These mentored research programs include: the full-time Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF); the part-time fall and spring semester Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS); the 2-week summer intensive Houston Early Research Experience (HERE); and the Senior Honors Thesis program. We also supported approximately 60 students this year in applying for nationally competitive scholarships and internship opportunities, and had 12 recipients and 3 honorable mentions - a record number of UH students participating in, and winning, national competitions. All of the scholarships and services offered to students would not be possible without the University's strong commitment to providing undergraduates with hands-on learning experiences integral to lifelong success. In particular, the support of the Office of the Provost, Division of Research, and the Honors College has been fundamental in building a strong foundation for undergraduate research activities at the University. In addition, other funders and units across campus continue to contribute to the Office's programs every year. This year, we would like to extend a special thank you to Jeff Beauchamp for supporting the PURS program. We also thank the Biology and Behavior Institute (BoBI) and the Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC) for their financial contributions of student scholarships. In addition to their generous support of our students' success, other UH departments and colleges contributed financially to the Office's programs this year. These units include Biology & Biochemistry; Biomedical Engineering; Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering; Civil & Environmental Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Physics; and Psychology. As always, we are grateful to our faculty selection and advisory committee for their continued assistance in choosing the student and faculty recipients of our awards each year. As a result of the increased interest among undergraduate students in pursuing research, the Office of Undergraduate Research launched the new HERE program with an inaugural cohort of 25 students. The research topic for this two-week faculty-led seminar series was an exploration of Houston. In addition to faculty-led discussions and close readings of literature, each day faculty and community partners made presentations on a topic relating to our city. The students concluded the program by presenting group research proposals for exploring and addressing challenges facing the city. The projects ranged from flood crisis management in the refineries and chemical storage plants around the Ship Channel to containing the spread of the Zika virus. Our motivated undergraduate students are eager and ready to share and discuss their research findings with you as you explore Undergraduate Research Day at the University of Houston.