Introduction to research workshops and intensive undergraduate research experiences as part of the NSF-URC Northern Plains Undergraduate Research Center

CHED 859

Andrew G. Sykes, asykes@usd.edu and Mary T. Berry, mberry@usd.edu. Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD 57069
Currently five Undergraduate Research Collaboratives (URC) have been funded by NSF. The Northern Plains Undergraduate Research Center (NPURC) is a collection of eight institutions in the upper Midwest with the goal of transforming the research culture at these institutions and providing a transportable model for other institutions to adopt. Along with instituting curricular reforms at the early undergraduate level, NPURC also provides Introduction to Research Workshops for training and discovery after the introductory laboratory experience has been completed, followed by intensive summer-long research experiences for students employing the REU model. Student summer research experiences and support are connected to grant writing efforts by the individual faculty mentors to increase sustainability of the research effort. The presentation will be a brief introduction to NPURC and will concentrate on the workshops and summer research experiences providing specifics about workshop content and objectives and organization and administration of grant writing within NPURC.