Projects ranged from regulation of germ cell division to research of university honor policies at the third annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Held on April 3 and 4 in Hodson Hall, the event was sponsored by Hopkins Honor Society for Neuroscience (Nu Rho Psi) and was planned entirely by a group of 12 Hopkins students.
Each of the twenty presenters was given 15 to 20 minutes to present their individual research project to an audience of families and friends, lab colleagues, Hopkins faculty and others.
"The idea behind the Undergraduate Research Symposium is to have it non-competitive so the presenters feel as little stress as possible" said Lukasz Babiarz, co-chair of the event. "Hopkins is a very competitive university and during all points as an undergraduate you experience competition. Here the idea is more for people to know what type of research undergraduates are doing at Hopkins and possibly get interested or inspired by a field and at the same time the presenters can become more proficient at explaining their own project which can prepare them better for graduate studies where professional symposiums are more frequent."
The presenters represented 12 different fields at Hopkins from both the Homewood and the Medical Campuses: Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Cognitive Science, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Economics, Material Science and Engineering, Medicine, Neurology, Neuroscience and Social Sciences. The research varied greatly from "the regulation of germ cell division" to "peer-institutional honor policy research," which looked at the effectiveness of other universities honor policies.
The opening speech of the event was given by Paula Burger, the Vice-Provost of Academic Affairs and International Programs, who according to Babiarz, "works closely with the undergraduate student body and is trying to reach them for personal research."
The program concluded by a seminar delivered by Dr. Linda Gorman, who will be a full-time professor at Hopkins beginning this September. The topic of her seminar was "Drugs and Addiction -- The Big Picture."
Babiarz said, "[She] discussed how the whole field of drugs and addiction is changing due to additional discoveries in research."
He said the lecture played a key role in the seminar.
"The idea is to give an interesting lecture on a topic many would find interesting, emphasizing the gains from research -- by focusing in narrow fields [of] research can solve little puzzles at a time and fit those into the big picture," he said. "[Her] advice to undergraduates [was] to focus on little projects but keep in mind the big picture trying to be solved."
Each participant received a door prize, a multi-functional pen that could work as a pen, pencil or palm pilot's stylus. Each audience member also received a raffle ticket for every presentation they attended; each day three prizes were raffled off. Those prizes were a $50 gift certificate to the Cheesecake Factory, a $20 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and a $20 gift certificate to Best Buy.
Barbiaz, a junior who is double majoring in economics and neuroscience, said he became involved in the event "to show that undergraduate research does count and it is a significant part [of the undergraduate experience] for those who participate."
Participant Jeff Chang, who presented his research in neuroscience, said, "I thought it went pretty well, the turn out was low compared to last year, but overall I thought it was fun and had a great time."
A participant in the field of chemistry junior Josh Avins agreed, "I'd say that it is definitely a challenge to present to your peers, and therefore in a way it is more of a challenge. But I'd say to realize that you've done it and successfully presented is a beneficial experience, it further emphasizes the undergraduate research component.
