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APS Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship program: exposing undergraduates to physiology research leads to a research‐focused career
Author(s) -
Lowy Melinda E.,
McHugh Nansie A.,
Galey William R.,
Matyas Marsha Lakes
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.633.9
Subject(s) - presentation (obstetrics) , undergraduate research , medical education , commit , psychology , graduate students , graduate research , career development , professional development , medicine , computer science , database , radiology
The APS Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship (UGSRF) program seeks to excite and encourage undergraduate (UG) students worldwide to pursue a career as a basic research scientist. The program has 5 objectives: develop a research project, collect/analyze data, write up results; give a presentation on results at a scientific meeting; attend a national meeting; commit to a research career; and enroll in a graduate/professional program in basic biomedical research. Since the UGRSF program began in 2000, 109 undergraduates have participated. Most students (92%) attended EB meeting and made 99 presentations, with some students having more than one abstract or presentation. Over 35% of the students published a paper on their APS‐funded research. From surveys 2 years post‐Fellowship, 85% of the UGSRFs had graduated. Of these, 46% applied to graduate school (PhD or Master's programs) and 74% were accepted. As well, 58% applied to a science‐related professional school (MD, etc.) and 75% were accepted. At the time of the survey, most (78%) were already enrolled in a graduate or professional degree program. In 2007 and 2008, the program added an online interactive component where UGSRFs discussed professional networking, structure of research studies, and career options in biomedicine. Results indicated the online interaction provided a powerful tool for UG students to explore critical professional development topics.