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
The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the next phase of the Health Research Program (HRP). This program offers a pathway into undergraduate research for students with interests in health and/or the biomedical sciences. By facilitating connections between UConn Health researchers and UConn undergraduates, the program aims to involve more students in research at UConn Health.
For students interested in participating in this program for Summer 2019, here is the key information:
Further details and answers to frequently asked questions are available on the Health Research Program website. Students are encouraged to peruse the posted opportunities and begin preparing application materials for any placements of interest. We urge students to take care to consider the time commitment and schedule options involved in a given opportunity to ensure that they can accommodate these demands in their summer and academic year schedule.
Please join us in congratulating the UConn undergraduates named below for their significant research and creative accomplishments in summer and fall 2018. Students: if you have an accomplishment to share, please do so using this online form.
PUBLICATIONS
Keara Frawley ’18 (ENG) was first author on a recent publication from Dr. Seok-Woo Lee’s lab and her paper is featured in the journal cover:
Frawley, K.G., Bakst, I., Sypek, J.T., Vijayan, S., Weinberger, C.R., Canfield, P.C., Aindow, M., & Lee, S. (2018). A Nanoindentation Study of the Plastic Deformation and Fracture Mechanisms in Single-Crystalline CaFe2As2. The Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 70(7). doi: 10.1007/s11837-018-2851-y
William Hunt ’19 (ENG) was a co-author on a recent publication from Dr. Kevin Brown’s (Biomedical Engineering) research group:
Brown, K.S., Allopenna, P.D., Hunt, W.R., Steiner, R., Saltzman, E., McRae, K., & Magnuson, J.S. (2018). Universal Features in Phonological Neighbor Networks. Entropy, 20(7), 526; doi: 10.3390/e20070526
Craig Mendonca ’18 (CLAS) worked in the Gene Therapy Center in Dr. Guangping Gao’s lab at UMass Medical School. Craig was a co-author on a recent publication from this research internship:
Wang, D., Li, J, Song, C.Q., Tran, K., Mou, H., Wu, P.H., Tai, P.W.L., Mendonca, C.A., Ren, L., Wang, B.Y., Su, Q., Gessler, D.J., Zamore, P.D., Xue, W., & Gao, G. (2018). Cas9-mediated allelic exchange repairs compound heterozygous recessive mutations in mice. Nature Biotechnology, 36. doi: 10.1038/nbt.4219
Kathleen Renna ’20 (CAHNR), an undergraduate in the Health Research Program, and Yue (Jacky) Yang ’19 (ENG), a 2018 SURF student, were co-authors on a recent publication based on research conducted with Dr. Ephraim Trakhtenberg at UConn Health:
Rheaume, B.A., Jereen, A., Bolisetty, M., Sajid, M.S., Yang, Y., Renna, K., Sun, L., Robson, P., & Trakhtenberg, E.F. (2018). Single Cell Transcriptome Profiling of Retinal Ganglion Cells Identifies Cellular Subtypes. Nature Communications, 9(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05134-3
SUMMER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Jiana Baker ’20 (CLAS) conducted research in Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar’s lab in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UConn Health through the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) Summer Research Fellowship Program. Jiana presented her work “Novel Polymer-Nanotube Composites: Small Molecule Drug Delivery Systems for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration” at the HCOP poster session.
Claudia Fernanda Pena-Sulantay ’20 (ENG) spent her summer in Nove Hrady, Czech Republic, engaged in a research project at the Center for Nanobiology and Structural Biology (CNSB). Her work on the project “Structural and functional analysis of the yeast K+ translocation system(s) encoded by TRK1 and TRK 2 genes” was part of the REU program in Molecular Biophysics sponsored by Princeton University.
Tanya Miller ’20 (CLAS) engaged in structural biology research at the Laboratory of Structural Biology which is part of BIOCEV, the Biotechnology and Biomedicine Center of the Academy of Sciences and Charles University in Vestec, Czech Republic. She was supervised by Dr. Cyril Barinka during the 5-week summer program.
PRESENTATIONS
Galaxy Community Conference-Bioinformatics Open Source Conference – June 25-30, 2018 – Portland, OR
Peter Richter ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Collecting Data for Association Genetics: Tripal Plant PopGen Submit Pipeline
American Society of Animal Science – Canadian Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting and Trade Show – July 8-12, 2018 – Vancouver, British Columbia
Lauren Engels ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
The Effects of Poor Maternal Nutrition on Fetal Brain Development
Helenrose Iannitti ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
Effects of Poor Maternal Nutrition during Gestation on Oxidative Stress in Offspring Muscle
Veronica Pleasant ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
The Effects of Maternal Milk Production on Dairy Calf Growth and Health
SACNAS 2018 – The National Diversity in STEM Conference – October 11-13, 2018 – San Antonio, TX
Vinayak Mishra ’21 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Cellular Response to Biodegradable Stent in Vascular Bioreactor
Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting – October 17-20, 2018 – Atlanta, GA
Amanda Johnson ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Assembly of Compact Neurostimulator Circuit Board for Neuroprosthetic Applications
Alexandra Liberti ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Characterization of Tissue Response in Rodent Spinal Cords by Immunofluorescence Staining
Fawaz Mohsin ’21 (ENG & BUS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Vascular Laser Thermolysis of Blood Vessels Varying in Size
Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Annual Meeting – November 3-7, 2018 – San Diego, CA
Skyler Sklenarik ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Behavioral Biases in People at Risk for Problematic Gambling and Pornography Use
Nathalia Hernandez ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Observational Learning in Rats: Effects of Number and Quality of Observations
Kyrstyn Jenkins ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Evaluating Mechanisms of Reward Enhancement by Nicotine in Humans
National Council of Family Relations Annual Conference – November 7-10 – San Diego, CA
Kalea Coles ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Child Birth Weight and Reading Skills: A Moderation by Race
SENTAC Conference – November 30-December 2, 2018 – Houston, TX
Anika Makol ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Pediatric Nasal Burns During Operative Cautery; Are Aural Speculums More Protective than Nasal Speculums? – A Retrospective Chart Review
With the SURF 2019 application cycle underway, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight some updates and changes to this year’s SURF program. SURF continues to offer students from across the academic disciplines the opportunity to focus full-time on a research or creative project for 9-10 weeks over the summer.
Updates for 2019
New Application Management System
We are using the UConn Quest Portal, a new application management system powered by SurveyMonkey Apply, to collect, process, and review SURF applications for summer 2019. This new system will allow students to complete the various components of the SURF application in the most appropriate order for them and to make edits as needed prior to submission of their application.
Application Reminders (See the full application outline here)
ESTA Requirement/Documentation of Safety Training
Students proposing SURF project work that will take place in a setting with hazards such as a lab, theater, or studio will be required to complete the Employee Safety Training Assessment (ESTA) with their faculty mentor to determine which safety training courses are required in order to work where hazards are present.
SURF Mailing List. Students planning to apply for SURF can sign up for the SURF Mailing List to receive helpful application tips via email.
We look forward to another excellent set of SURF applications this year! The application deadline is Monday, February 4, 2019. We encourage all students to make use of SURF Office Hours to seek feedback on their draft materials and to ask any questions they might have about the program or the application. SURF Office Hours are scheduled for 1/22, 1/25, and 1/28. Full detail about times and location can be found in the sidebar on the main SURF webpage.
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
