This article is written from Jonathan's first-hand experience attending the 15th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, where Jonathan presented his project, "Expression Profiling of Seven Genes Identified By Microarray as Glucocorticoid-Regulated".


It seems as if every undergraduate studying science is involved in research. Scientific research just happens to be the extracurricular activity of choice to supplement science students' academic experience. It's as if slaving away in a lab without windows makes science undergraduates complete.

Throughout their time in the lab, undergraduates are transformed into researchers - asking new questions and often finding new answers. In doing so, some undergraduates are able to contribute to larger projects that their labs are working on. In other cases, the research may be the student's own, for a senior thesis.

Even though undergraduates learn a lot from the research experience, some sort of recognition for all their hard work is always appreciated. Perhaps the highest form of recognition is publication in a scientific journal, but that is something undergraduates rarely achieve.

The research that undergraduates do and the discoveries that they make are often as real and useful as those of more advanced researchers. Take, for example, a student who is currently studying the breakdown of oil by bacteria at the University of Rochester. Although still an undergraduate, he has been successful at using bacteria to break down certain fats and oils in hopes of using this bacteria to clean oil spills - a major feat even in this day of advanced technology. However, since the research may not get published, it becomes problematic for the student to achieve recognition or communicate his work.

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research, held annually at undergraduate institutions throughout the United States, brings undergraduates from across the country together to celebrate their research achievements through posters and oral presentations. This year, the 15th National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) was held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, March 15-17. Students from California to Puerto Rico came to present their research, ranging from psychology to biochemistry, music to religion, geology to mathematics.

The NCUR schedule was packed with events from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a variety of recreational activities scheduled in the evening. Each day participants moved among hundreds of poster presentations and oral presentations across the University of Kentucky campus, checking out what interested them. Often one undergraduate attended another's presentation because their research, materials, or methods were similar. Such discussions between students who had never met before generated many a new insight, encouraging both to continue pursuing research. This is one of NCUR's primary functions: to serve as a means for undergraduates to share their research with one another.

The conference was not limited to student presentations. This year NCUR attracted plenary speakers from across the country, all noted for their professional and personal accomplishments. One speaker, Wendell E. Berry, is a poet, author and farmer who has received both Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships. This remarkable individual communicated to the students his deep reflections on the relationship of science and the human spirit. On a more scientific note, Phillip A. Sharp, Professor of Biology at MIT and a 1993 Nobel Prize laureate, spoke about his landmark discovery in RNA splicing techniques.

A popular after-hours event was "Old Kentucky Night" at the famous Kentucky Horse Park. Home of the world's largest horse museum, the Kentucky Horse Park portrays man's relationship to the horse. In addition to touring the museum, undergraduates enjoyed traditional southern food, square dancing, and clogging - a true taste of Kentucky culture.

As the undergraduates headed home, many of them had come to understand the benefits that scientists derive from research conferences: encouragement, constructive criticism and new ideas to apply to their own studies.

Next year's National Conference on Undergraduate Research will be held at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. For more information on the conference or to apply, please contact ncur2002@mail.uww.edu or visit the official NCUR 2002 website.