June 2, 2017
Research programs bring undergraduates to Kansas State University for graduate experience
Temperatures are heating up and so is undergraduate research Kansas State University.
More than 70 undergraduate students from universities and colleges across the United States will spend their summer in a lab or in the field conducting research and earning a graduate student-like experience through eight summer undergraduate research programs offered by the university.
The programs provide an opportunity for undergraduates from diverse disciplines to work with a mentor on a research project or to join an existing research team. Besides getting to work with multicultural students from different colleges and universities, participants learn about the graduate school experience.
The following undergraduate summer programs are being offered by the university this summer:
• Chemistry Research Experience for Undergraduates
• Earth, Wind and Fire: Sustainable Energy for the 21st Century
• K-State Research and Extension Multicultural Summer Research Fellowship
• McNair Scholars Program
• Research Immersion: Pathways to STEM
• Summer Academy in Sustainable Bioenergy
• Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program
• NSF REU: Interactions of Matter, Light and Learning Physics
One of the longest running summer research programs for undergraduates is the Graduate School's Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, or SUROP. First started in 1990, SUROP gives students a firsthand experience with the research process. This research experience is designed to help students prepare for graduate school and other advanced study. Participation in the SUROP program provides an up-close look at the process of research discovery.
Students participating in SUROP will spend nine weeks this summer at Kansas State University working closely with faculty members as part of their research teams involved with ongoing scholarly programs. Students are expected to spend about 40 hours per week working with their research teams and to be contributing members of this group. By the end of the nine-week period, students should have produced tangible results from experimental research and will present the results in a special research forum.
The Graduate School provides participants with a stipend of $4,500, travel, and room and board.
The following students are participating in SUROP 2017 at Kansas State University; included is the research area and the student's college:
Jordan Howard, psychology, Florida Southern College; Daniel Miramontes, cinema and studio art, San Francisco State University; Celeste Cotton, biology, and Justis Pettit, biology, both from Langston University; Arnaldo Torres, chemistry, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, Ponce; and Jalen Thompson, English, University of Montevallo.
SUROP participants also will attend weekly seminars that are open to all undergraduate students to learn more about the graduate school experience. Students are strongly encouraged to attend other events and activities organized by the SUROP coordinators.
Questions about SUROP can be directed to Amanda Martens, almartens@k-state.edu, at the Graduate School.