Office of Undergraduate Research
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News and Announcements
March 2008
2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty Mentor Awardee
November 2007
Academic Year EPSCoR Awards
UNR & UNLV recently awarded NSF-EPSCoR grants up to $3,360 to 46 students to conduct research on topics in science and engineering during the 2007/2008 academic year. Under direction of a faculty mentor, students will carry out research and potentially will come up with publishable papers and presentations. Students will also present their work at a research symposium in April 2008. For more information on the program visit http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/EPSCoRSummer.html.
HURA Awards
The UNR Office of Undergraduate Research recently awarded grants of up to $2,000 to 24 students to conduct research on topics with a wide range including nursing, psychology, english, anthropology and political science. The grants were provided under the Honors Undergraduate Research Awards program (HURA). Under direction of a faculty mentor, students will carry out research in the course of the next 12 months and potentially will come up with publishable papers and presentations. Visit http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/HURA.html for more information about HURA.
Undergraduate Researcher wins First Prize
October 2007
The 22nd National Conference on Undergraduate Research will be held on April 10-12 at the University of Salisbury in Maryland . A call for abstracts has been issued. Please visit http://www.salisbury.edu/ncur22/ for more information.
August 2007
The summer poster session for undergraduate researchers was held on August 15 with over 100 students, parents, faculty, and administrators in attendance. Twenty-eight posters were presented by students from different fields. Click here for the book of the abstracts.
May 2007
UROP Awards
The UNR & UNLV NSF-EPSCoR Summer Undergraduate Research Programs recently awarded grants of up to $5,500 to 26 students to conduct research on topics in science and engineering during the summer of 2007. Under direction of a faculty mentor, students will carry out research and potentially will come up with publishable papers and presentations. Students will also present their work at a poster session in August 2007. Several enrichment workshops are organized for the recipients of the award this summer by the UNR Office of Undergraduate Research. For more information on the program visit http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/EPSCoRSummer.html.
GURA Awards
The UNR Office of Undergraduate Research recently awarded grants of up to $1,500 to 16 students to conduct research on topics ranging from arts to criminal justice and physics and mechanical engineering. The grants were provided under the General Undergraduate Research Awards program (GURA). Under direction of a faculty mentor, students will carry out research in the course of the next 12 months and potentially will come up with publishable papers and presentations. Visit http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/GURA.html for more information about GURA.
April 2007
Click here for news of the 2007 Nevada Undergraduate Research Symposium (NURS-07)
March 2007
URPC
Click here for news of UNR's first Undergraduate Research Poster Conference (URPC).
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor Award
Dr. David Shintani, an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, as the first recipient of the newly established Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor Award. Please see the following link for more details http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/OURFMawrard.html.
April 2006
Press Release
For immediate release: April 6, 2006
Contact: Jill Boudreaux , Media Relations Specialist
775-784-4611 , jboudreaux@unr.edu
University providing invaluable research opportunities to undergraduates
Student's educational experiences enhanced through research, while developing talent, skills for life's endeavors
Reno , Nev. - The first Nevada Undergraduate Research Symposium will take place at the University of Nevada , Reno April 12-13 at the Harry Reid Engineering Laboratory. More than 40 outstanding undergraduates from across the state, representing a variety of programs ranging from science and engineering to liberal arts and psychology will present their findings to more than 80 students and university officials.
"The University of Nevada , Reno values research as an important part of undergraduate education," said Saiid Saiidi, director, Office of Undergraduate Research, University of Nevada , Reno . Research and scholarship are precious components to any education, but Nevada is special because undergraduate scholars are being recognized for conducting noteworthy, cutting-edge research. These students are developing and pursuing new ideas in a systematic way, which enhances their ability to succeed in the workplace."
The purpose of the symposium is to provide a vehicle for undergraduate researchers to share their results with fellow students, faculty and others interested in higher education.
Undergraduate computer science student Fares Qeadan will be one of the presenters at the Symposium. He is working with two other students, Jim Motta and Siraj Malik, to develop home automation software called 'goSmart.'
Project 'goSmart' is about designing and creating an X10 interface allowing future users to wirelessly control, schedule, customize and maintain many of the appliances in their home.
"Project 'goSmart' will simplify your lifestyle, fulfilling the growing interest in Smarthomes," Qeadan said. "Going wireless and controlling devices within a house using your home computer will provide a sense of security making home management easier. This project is both an academic accomplishment and a commercial promise."
Motta said he has learned a great deal while conducting undergraduate research at the University.
"I have personally learned more than I could imagine on this project," Motta said. "Conducting research at the undergraduate level has been an invaluable experience for me, and having the opportunity to share our findings is great. The computer science professors have been very supportive of our efforts and my team is motivated to keep developing 'goSmart' after we graduate."
The symposium will include 42 oral and poster presentations, 14 of which will be by UNLV students. A book of the abstracts and a CD/ROM of accepted articles will he distributed to attendees.
The Office of Undergraduate Research opened at the University in 2003.
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Editor's Note:
For detailed program information, including session times and topics, please click on the following link.
http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/PDF%20links/Program%20Booklet-web.pdf
Office of Undergraduate Research Web page:
http://www.unr.edu/undergraduateresearch/index.html
December 2005
Presentation on Undergraduate Research at UNR
On December 7, 2005, Dr. Saiidi presented information and opportunities for undergraduate research to 285 students in the Introduction to Engineering course.
Link to presentation.
May 2005
Undergraduate Research Data for 2004-05
A survey of the University of Nevada , Reno faculty was taken in February 2005 about undergraduate research mentorship activities. Sixty-one responses were received. Based on this survey, 220 undergraduate students were involved in research during 2004-2005. Sixty-four percent of the students were involved in funded research. The top four colleges in terms of the number of undergraduate researchers were (1) College of Agriculture , Biotechnology, and Natural Resources, (2) College of Science , (3) College of Engineering , and (4) College of Liberal Arts.
Please click on the link above for more information.