Undergraduate Research, an Important Source Of Breakthrough Research and Future STEM PhDs. (February 24, 2010)

Is the model of Excellence for Research in Australia being promoted by Senator Kim Carr as Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research in the best interests of Australia's future?

US congressional staff and media were told on Tuesday at "Transformative Research at Undergraduate Institutions: The Capacity To Revolutionize," a Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) that undergraduate research contributes greatly to the pipeline of both breakthrough scientific discoveries and the next generation of Ph.D.s in STEM fields.

“Undergraduate institutions and students across the nation are actively engaged in breakthrough research,” Cora Marrett, Acting Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation said. “It is critical that policymakers understand undergraduate research's great potential for driving innovation and support its growth at undergraduate institutions across the nation.”

Moses Lee, Ph.D., Professor and Dean of the Natural Sciences and Applied Sciences, Hope College made the point: "Undergraduate institutions are hotbeds for recruiting, nurturing, and producing high quality STEM graduates who go on to get PhDs. There is no substitute for high quality and transformative undergraduate research when the goal is to excite students about science and to encourage these students to pursue PhD degrees."

Then Michael Zach, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and Guest Faculty Researcher at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), together with one of his students, Tyler Shogren, discussed their work together in nanotechnology research. Professor Zach also takes a group of students to ANL to meet with top nanotechnology researchers.

Describing a recent visit Professor Zach said, "An experience like this for our underclassman is out of the ordinary, and all took something positive away from this opportunity. My goal is to let my students know that the sky is the limit on where they can take their scientific research – I think the students realize that they are becoming the leaders of science who will discover technologies that lead to the jobs our nation needs."

Finally, The panel of speakers reported on the June 2009 summit on transformative research noted in the media release above. Publications with examples of transformative research are available at http://www.cur.org/publications.html.

Nearly 600 institutions and over 5000 individuals in the US belong to the Council on Undergraduate Research. The Couscil maintains that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.