Syracuse University’s Student Association is sponsoring for the second consecutive year an undergraduate summer research program that will allow 25 students to receive $1,000 in research funding.

The program was initiated last year by SA’s then-Vice President Daniela Lopez, who worked with former Office of the Vice President for Research Gina Lee-Glauser. That year, the program was sponsored solely by SA and funded seven students to do research over the summer with a faculty member of their choice.

This year, SA is putting forth $10,000 for the program, and that funding is being matched by SU’s Office of the Provost, SA President Aysha Seedat said. In addition, the Office of Research is contributing $5,000.

The deadline to apply for the program is Friday. Applications will be reviewed by the Office of Research. SA will not play any part in processing the applications because the organization does not want to show any bias, Seedat said. Students can apply on the SU Qualtrics website.

The research program is an example of an SA initiative that started out with exclusive funding by SA, but then got “buy-in” from the university after SA showed SU how successful the program was, Seedat said.

“As an undergrad who’s not in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields who’s conducted research on our campus out of pocket, it means a lot to me that the university is willing to, you know, look at undergrads as a population that is keen into doing this sort of work,” Seedat said.

The program is aimed toward students who are not in STEM fields, Seedat said, because STEM students often receive funding for their research through the university from organizations like the National Science Foundation. But the program is not limited to non-STEM students. STEM students are welcomed to apply so long as they are not already sponsored for research, Seedat said.

She added that the program is seeking freshmen, sophomores and juniors who are interested and engaged in a specific field but haven’t done a lot of research or haven’t had the opportunity to do a lot of research in that field.

On the application, students are required to name a faculty member they’d like to conduct research with and whether they have reached out to that faculty member. Students must also provide a description of their area of research interest and a personal statement about their career goals in research and their interest in participating in the summer program.

“I think that it’s important for you to be able to leave your university feeling really invigorated, feeling really inspired to do something, and hopefully this research opportunity can help students do that,” Seedat said.

Published on April 18, 2016 at 11:27 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu