SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The eighth consecutive Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program underwent an organizational transformation this year. Originally, the SURF program consisted of approximately 16 undergraduate students who were given a 10-week summer research experience held exclusively in laboratories at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and Brown University (Brown). While summer research experiences were also provided to undergraduate students at the Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI), students trained in PUI faculty laboratories were not formally recognized as Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows. They were however invited and expected to participate in all of the SURF Program events. The program now encompasses and administratively unifies all of the summer undergraduate researchers throughout the RI-INBRE Network. While applications for fellowships at URI and Brown were administered centrally at URI, the applications for the SURF Program at each PUI were handled by a SURF Program Coordinator, who was one of the two Steering Committee members, from that institution. This Coordinator assisted the PUI investigators in selecting qualified students for the SURF Program. Accepted students were assigned an individualized research project mentored by a faculty member at one of the network institutions. Each PUI investigator typically trained three RI-INBRE Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows. A total of sixty-six students participated in the 2009 SURF Program (16 at University of Rhode Island, 12 at Providence College, 15 at Rhode Island College, 10 at Roger Williams University, and 13 at Salve Regina University). Six of the students were underrepresented minorities and 39 of the 66 students were female. This administrative change greatly increased the total number of recognized SURF students, thus increasing the visibility of the program at the participating institutions. Student recruitment was carried out by advertising the SURF Program through the RI-INBRE and RI SURF web sites, presentations at summer internship fairs, internet posting services, and brochures displayed at various Rhode Island institutions of higher education. This change has also promoted a sense of belonging to the RI-INBRE community and unity among the undergraduate researchers. Furthermore, students can now list the RI-INBRE Fellowship on their resume and enhance their chances of acceptance at a graduate program. In order to bring together undergraduate researchers in the biomedical and life sciences, a calendar of events was developed collaboratively with the Rhode Island Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (RI EPSCoR). These events included seminars and workshops on laboratory safety, research ethics, poster preparation, graduate education, and demonstrations on instrumentation in the RI-INBRE Centralized Research Core Facility. Selected workshops and seminars were broadcasted via videoconferencing to all of the network institutions. The students also toured Pfizer's research facilities in Groton, Connecticut and Newport Biodiesel, a biofuels manufacturing plant in Newport, RI. The joint program has not only provided a structured training environment for undergraduates interested in biomedical research, but also a platform for Summer Research Fellows throughout the state to present their research findings. The 2009 SURF Program concluded with a half-day conference where students from the RI-INBRE and the RI EPSCoR Programs presented 84 scientific posters. Over 200 individuals attended the event including the Rhode Island's Lieutenant Governor, Elizabeth Roberts, who gave the welcome address. Other attendees included administrators and faculty from the participating institutions, and parents.