If you are ready to embark upon the exciting and rewarding journey of presenting your research – congrats! Whether complete or in-progress, take a moment to acknowledge all of the hard work you have put in to make it this far in your undergraduate research career. Now is time for the fun and creative part – displaying your research. Continue reading
Toward the end of their undergraduate career, most students find themselves wondering about what’s next – the job market, graduate school, etc. Some students, however, have their hearts set on medical school, dental school, veterinary school or other professional programs from day one. The decision to apply to these programs is not an easy one- between the financial burden, mental and emotional burden, and the time commitment going forward, it is easy to get lost amongst the application cycle. I want to offer a few specific tips and tricks about the application process that I learned along the way. Continue reading
If you are finishing up research, are a senior, or are in the honors program, you may be starting a research thesis soon. I currently am beginning to compose my honors thesis for the research that I have been doing for the past three years. This definitely sounded like a daunting task, however hopefully this blog post can eliminate some of your fears and help you tackle and get started on your thesis! Continue reading
I recently applied to graduate programs to pursue a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Throughout the application process, I struggled with the challenge of condensing a year’s worth of research into the small space on the application and on my resume, and with explaining my research within the time allotted during the interview process. I also faced the dilemma of whether to apply for formal research opportunities in these new programs.
If you find yourself in this situation, here are a few tips that helped me: Continue reading
When joining an established professional environment, it can be difficult to understand how to fit in while also receiving the resources and support you need to succeed. It is even more difficult as an undergraduate in an environment full of grad students who have very different needs and priorities from your own.
How can you simultaneously learn how to exist within this already established environment, learn your own work style, and ask for these resources in an environment where you are so far down in the hierarchy? Here’s what worked for me. Continue reading
We’ve all heard the saying, “everyone makes mistakes.” But when you’re the one who’s to blame, it’s can be harder to remember that you’re not alone. Over the past two years working in a lab at UConn, I’ve made many mistakes and been forced to face the consequences. In this post, I share with you some of my biggest ones in the hopes that we can all feel a little less alone the next time we mess up. Continue reading
Congratulations to the 11 UConn undergraduates who have been awarded UConn IDEA Grants in the fall 2018 funding cycle!
The award recipients represent a variety of disciplines, from English to materials science, and from biological sciences to design and technical theater. They will conduct independent research, develop creative works in different media, and initiate programs that engage the University community.
Click here to view the full list of fall 2018 UConn IDEA Grant award recipients.
Special thanks to the faculty and staff that supported student applications to the UConn IDEA Grant and to those who will be mentoring the award recipients as they complete their projects.
The UConn IDEA Grant program awards funding to support self-designed projects including artistic endeavors, community service initiatives, research projects, prototyping and entrepreneurial ventures, and other creative and innovative projects. Undergraduates in all majors at all UConn campuses can apply. Applications are accepted twice per year from individuals and from small groups who plan to work collaboratively on a project. The next application deadline is March 11, 2019.
Since finishing a research apprenticeship with a faculty mentor I have wanted to start my own research project, but I have struggled to figure out how. I’ve known for a while that I want to explore ways to utilize photography to help with environmental efforts to preserve natural parks and resources in the West, but it seemed like an enormous project to even begin. I became overwhelmed as I tried looking into past studies, professors on campus who work in this area, and even explored internships, yet it just was not coming together. Continue reading
We are delighted to announce the 15 student-faculty teams selected to receive awards for Spring 2019. Congratulations to all award recipients!
SHARE Awards support undergraduate research apprenticeships in the social sciences, humanities, and arts, offering students majoring in these fields opportunities to develop inquiry skills and explore research interests early in their college careers.
Project Title: Exploring the Upper Crust of Mesopotamian Society: An Archaeological Study of Bread Production at Tell Leilan
Student Apprentice: Stephen Baker, Anthropology and Physiology & Neurobiology
Faculty Mentor: Alexia Smith, Anthropology
Project Title: Head vs. Heart Beliefs: Comparing Intuitive and Rational Cognitive Judgments
Student Apprentice: Erin Blake, IMJR: Mental Health & Well-Being
Faculty Mentor: Crystal Park, Psychological Sciences
Project Title: Post-traumatic Growth in Eating Disorder Recovery
Student Apprentice: Michelle Franklin, Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Carrie Eaton, Nursing
Project Title: Study of Language and Math – Mapping Abilities and Math Fluency in Hearing and Deaf Children
Student Apprentice: Caroline Hebert, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences and Cognitive Science
Faculty Mentor: Marie Coppola, Psychological Sciences
Project Title: “Advice and Consent” or “Search and Destroy?”: The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Review of U.S. Supreme Court Nominations in the Era of Party Polarization
Student Apprentice: John Kelly, Political Science
Faculty Mentor: Kimberly Bergendahl, Political Science
Project Title: The Scholio Project: Designing Online News Comments to Promote Intellectual Humility in Public Discourse
Student Apprentice: Addison Kimber, Political Science and Biology
Faculty Mentor: Michael Morrell, Political Science
Project Title: Justice in the Dark: How Secretively Funded Campaign Advertisements Shape Judicial Campaigns
Student Apprentice: Hollianne Lao, Political Science
Faculty Mentor: Virginia Hettinger, Political Science
Project Title: The PRISM Project: A Mindfulness Intervention on Substance Abuse
Student Apprentice: Kasey Macedo, Psychological Sciences and Human Development & Family Studies
Faculty Mentor: Beth Russell, Human Development & Family Studies
Project Title: Preterm Infant Feeding Type in Relation to Neurobehavioral Development Outcomes and Performances in the NICU
Student Apprentice: Effie Makris, Nursing
Faculty Mentor: Xiaomei Cong, Nursing
Project Title: Musical Rhythm and Nationalism in the Eastern Bloc
Student Apprentice: Maria Mandoiu, Music History and Anthropology
Faculty Mentor: Daniel Goldberg, Music
Project Title: Patterns of African American Life in Post War Hartford (1940-2010)
Student Apprentice: Chloe Murphy, Africana Studies
Faculty Mentor: Fiona Vernal, History and Africana Studies
Project Title: Puerto Rican Heritage Trail
Student Apprentice: Alejandro Rodriguez, History
Faculty Mentor: Anne Gebelein, Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Project Title: Digitizing the Paper Trail: Enslaved and Freedpeople in The Spanish Empire
Student Apprentice: Jenifer Rojas Orellana, Political Science
Faculty Mentor: Ricardo Salazar-Rey, History
Project Title: Can Inclusive Education Programs Reduce Racial and Gender Discrimination in the Labor Market?
Student Apprentice: Mary Vlamis, Economics and Political Science
Faculty Mentor: Jorge Aguero, Economics
Project Title: Stratified Model Minorities: Educational Experiences and Social Mobility of Chinese Immigrants from Taishan and Fuzhou
Student Apprentice: Jingya Zhu, Sociology and Communication
Faculty Mentor: Simon Cheng, Sociology
As an undergraduate student there is a lot of pressure on you to figure out exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life at such a young age. Enrolling at UConn at 17 years old, I had no clue what some of the 110+ majors offered here even meant (Cognitive Science? What?) let alone having to choose one.
Before switching to a Cognitive Science major, I originally was a Physiology and Neurobiology major. I knew I was interested in a field relating to the brain since I had so many brain-oriented unanswered questions. Why are humans the only species to industrialize? What is the difference between humans, animals, and machines? What happens when your brain gets injured? How can some people switch between two or more languages? These questions are what motivated my major change from a purely physiological and anatomical education of the brain to an interdisciplinary understanding of the brain’s application to language, emotion, and personality. Continue reading