I should start by describing a bit of my philosophy concerning undergraduate education. I am a firm believer in undergraduate research as part of a student’s formation in any scientific discipline. While coursework allows students to gain theoretical knowledge in their discipline of choice, it is essential that they realize how what they learn in class relates to day-to-day life and to the advancement in science. This connection can only be made if the students have hands-on experience in a laboratory setting that stimulates their imagination and enhances their critical thinking process. In the UK Department of Chemistry, we have several mechanisms by which students can be exposed to research and gain the needed experience. Students can perform research by enrolling in CHE 395. The course can be taken for up to nine credit hours and the student chooses an advisor from among all the faculty members of the Department of Chemistry. Often, the students continue being an active member of the chosen research group even after completing their CHE 395 requirement. For students who are considering a research career or a medical profession, this is an invaluable experience.
In addition to CHE 395, over the last ten years, our Department as well as the Center for Membrane Sciences has been sponsoring with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a “Research For Undergraduates” (REU) Program. These REU Programs typically run over eight weeks during the summer months, and in some cases have activities that continue throughout the next academic year. Given my interest in undergraduate research, I served as the Director of the NSF Program of our Department during a number of years. As part of the two-month summer program, the student participants are involved in research projects in the laboratories of the REU faculty. These projects are selected carefully to be within the abilities of the students, but at the same time to be challenging and to promote interactions among the participants, the faculty, and the graduate and postdoctoral student members in each REU advisor’s research group.
Through the preparation of an interim report at the beginning of July and a final research report at the end of the summer, the students experience how scientists organize and present their data. All students participate in an “in-house” Research Conference at the end of the summer at which they give poster presentations of their research. A series of talks are organized during the summer to introduce the students to various aspects of a research career. The topics range from scientific ones to career-oriented ones, so the students are exposed to the different aspects of the life that they will encounter if they choose to pursue higher education. Often, students who live within driving distance of our University continue their research during the academic year.
As part of this program, REU students attend and present papers at scientific meetings. In 2003, our REU students once again received competitive awards at these meetings for their REU research, continuing our 16-year-long tradition of students receiving competitive awards for their work. A large number of manuscripts have resulted from work performed by these undergraduate students. There is no doubt in my mind that opportunities such as REU program pre pare undergraduate students better for their future careers in research.
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