the center for undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities

The Center for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities

Teaching Learning WorkshopFriday, November 12

Understanding Undergraduate Research:

An Overview Workshop


Collaborative Overview:

Begun Fall 2008 as a Working Group Tasked with defining and promoting undergraduate

research at St. Norbert College Became a Center with a Director in Summer of 2009 Received a budget in and offered grants Fall of 2010

• Definition of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative ActivitiesThe Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines collaboration or undergraduate research as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original, intellectual, or creative contribution to the discipline,” while recognizing that any definition of research and scholarship is unique to each discipline and that research is frequently interdisciplinary.

More specifically, St. Norbert College defines collaboration as follows:

Undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activities include any scholarship undertaken by an undergraduate student in collaboration with a faculty or staff mentor that strives toward

• original scholarly insights • new interpretations or applications of existing knowledge • creation of new works

Such research should add to the richness of the specific discipline and lead to professionally reviewed scholarship in the form of

• presentations • exhibitions • publications • performances



•What are the Benefits? The Developmental Process of Undergraduate Research• Integrative skills• •Critical thinking• •Problem solving• •Written communication• •Oral communication/public speaking/presentation skills

• Research skills• •Discourse community—the research that is done for specific field• •Field-specific research• •Real-world academic research• •Involvement in this exchange—peer reviewed journals, conference • presentations, poster presentations

• Intangible skills that connect with SNC’s mission of holistic education: intellectual,• spiritual and personal development• •Intellectual curiosity• •Intellectual excitement-commitment• •Patience• •Fortitude• •Dependability/reliability• •List goes on:


•Brief CUR Chronology•1978: CUR started as directory of undergraduate research in Chemistry•1980: First CUR newsletter•1984: Physics/Astronomy and Biology added to CUR organization•1985: First national conference of CUR at Colgate University•1986: Geology added to CUR•1987: First National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) •1989: Mathematics and Computer Science added to CUR•1990: At-large council added to CUR•1993: Psychology added to CUR•1997: Engineering added to CUR•1999: All fields covered by National Science Foundation added to CUR•2001: Social Sciences division added to CUR•2004: Diversity task force added to CUR•2005: Undergraduate research program director’s division added to CUR•2008: Arts and Humanities division added to CUR•2009: CUR and NCUR become one body


Biology Collaborative Research:

BIOL 490/492 Student Faculty Development Endowement Fund Funding: O’Keefe Fellowship

Alumni GiftsNSF (National Science Foundation) grantJ-term/Summer Session Return fundsCollaborations


A Natural Science Undergraduate Research Success Story


Day of Celebration April, 2009


Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, October, 2009


Day of Celebration April, 2010


Chemistry Collaborative Research:

CHEM 490/492 Student Faculty Development Endowment Fund

Summer REU (research experience for undergraduates) funding: ~ $4000/student = stipend and room

Zehren Endowed ChairAlumni GiftsNSF (National Science Foundation) grantPRF (Petroleum Research Fund) grant


Summer 2005

Chemistry Collaborative Summer Research Projects:

2005-present39 student reseachers and counting

PA school

chem Ph.D. program

med school

Industry jobs


Mathematics Collaborative Summer Research Projects:

http://www.snc.edu/math/researchprogram.html




Psychology Collaborative Research:

Often begins in the classroomStudent Faculty Development Endowment FundPSYC 490/492McNair Scholar-Summer Research ProgramResearch Fellows Program


Undergraduate Research in Psychology


Collaborative Research GrantsIn conjunction with the Office of Faculty Development•Student-Faculty Development Grants $1000 Deadline: ended

These grants (total of 10) are designed to support research that will be

undertaken during the spring semester.

•Collaborative Summer-Fall Grants $1000Deadline: March 7, 2011

These grants (total of 5) are designed to support research that will be undertaken during the summer or during the fall semester.

•Continuation Grants $500 Deadline: April 18, 2011

These grants (total of 4 ) are designed to provide additional support for previously funded collaborative research projects. www.snc.edu/collaborative/researchgrant.html


NCUR Travel GrantsStudent Travel

NCUR Travel Grants $1000 Deadline: Abstract deadline Nov. 19, 2010

The St. Norbert Collaborative provides travel grants of $1000 to help offset the cost for students to attend and present their research or creative scholarship at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) (http://www.ithaca.edu/ncur2011/) . Students who have submitted an abstract online to NCUR are eligible to apply for funding for the conference.

www.snc.edu/collaborative/ncurgrant.html


Collaborative Grants

Classroom and Pedagogical Grants $200 Deadline: Open

Classroom and pedagogical collaborative grants—up to $200—are designed for students and faculty to conduct research on pedagogical innovations in the classroom, which may lead to course redesign, update, and/or new course proposals. In addition, these grants can provide support for 1) classroom projects that engage students in a collaborative manner, and 2) the purchase of pedagogical materials (including software).

www.snc.edu/collaborative/cpcgrant.html


Student Travel Grants

•Student Academic Travel Grants $300 Deadline: May 2, 2011

The Student Academic Travel (SAT) Fund is designed to help students defray the cost of participating in academic conferences and competitions. www.snc.edu/collaborative/satfund.html

•Attendee Grants $100 Deadline: Until May 2, 2011

The Collaborative offers a number of attendee grants—up to $100—that do not require participation in an academic conference. Attendee grants allow students to explore scholarly possibilities for future undergraduate collaborative research projects.

www.snc.edu/collaborative/satfund.html

the center for undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities

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