Woodrow Wilson program needs some research of its own

Here's $10,000. What are you going to do with it? How are you going to do it?

It's not quite that cut and dry, but the Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program is run on the principle that those who receive a fellowship can do whatever they want with that research funding.

After the Admissions Office sifts through every prospective student's application, they weed out about 120 who fit the bill, and then a faculty committee consisting of a professor from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, narrow it down to 45 candidates who receive fellowship acceptance letters.

The hope is that only 15 will come to Hopkins.

"It's a betting game," Suzy Bacon, coordinator of student academic programs, said. "We can only fund up to 20 students a year."

Those 20 students also include only five rising sophomores who apply after a semester here and if more than 15 freshman decide to make Hopkins their home, the sophomores are cut one by one.

While Admissions looks at the entire application when deciding whether or not a student is an ideal Wilson candidate, the actual form to apply for the program is only a page long.

Most of the candidates have research experience, but few have actually come up with proposals, pitched them to mentors, developed a budget and executed a final presentation on their work -- all requirements of the four-year fellowship.

Some candidates enter the program with concrete project ideas.

"There are plenty of people who hit the ground running," Bacon said.

But a number of fellows come into the program flustered about the money.

"Most people don't know what to do with $10,000," Carolyn Moss, a senior public health major and Wilson fellow, said. "It's a little overwhelming."

According to Bacon, the program understands that incoming freshman might not necessarily have an idea of what they want to do. Bacon and Dr. Steven David, director of the program, encourage students to use their first semester to get acquainted with the school and explore their options.

Even though the directors allow a little time for adjustment, by the end of second semester, students have to meet with David and Bacon to lay out exactly how they will work toward their research goal, during that summer .

For the social and natural sciences, the steps taken to reach a conclusion are easier to visualize, but research in the humanities presents a challenge.

"Humanities can be very tough research," David said. "[Students in the humanities] aren't sure, and their friends are splicing DNA."

The process is a little different for students who apply as rising sophomores. Only five are selected, but Bacon receives countless applications from students who have a clear idea of their intended research after experiencing a semester and a half, or less, at Hopkins.

Bacon admits that all are amazing candidates. Most submit detailed research proposals including professors they'd like to work with. But if more than 15 incoming freshmen accept their fellowships, there's the possibility that no sophomores will be accepted.

Amit Vora, a senior majoring in biology and economics, was one of the lucky few accepted as a sophomore. After working at the medical school his freshman year, a faculty member helped him write a proposal for his application to the program.

"At that time, I kind of had a handle on what I wanted to do," Vora said. "After being here for six or seven months, you can begin to find your own little niche here."

Students in the program work on one specific project or multiple projects throughout their four-year stay. While they conduct their own research and analyze their own data, much of the experience depends on who they work with, and how they receive guidance.

Students are required to work with a faculty mentor, and David directs fellowship students to professors who are well-versed and enthusiastic about the student's topic. But it doesn't always work out.

"It's the luck of the draw with the mentor," Moss said. Vora agreed. "It really depends on who you get," he said. Vora's had a positive experience with his mentors, one of which was David, who helped him develop his first project on biological warfare.

"The professors on this campus have been incredibly helpful," he said.

Once fellows come up with an idea, numerous gears are set in motion. Students have to meet regularly with David and Bacon to present their prospective project. They also have to do hours of background research to prepare and develop budgets approved by three people before finally given the okay.

According to Bacon, who helps many of the fellows develop their budgets, the three signatures required on the budget help give the program a good sense of what the student's plans are, and provide a way of making sure the money is used properly.

While many students use the money to conduct research abroad, David and Bacon need a clear outline of what they plan to do there.

"This is not a tourism program," David said.

At the end of their four years, students must present a final product that, according to Bacon, should always involve a written component.

Students also participate in a poster session, during which fellows present pictures, slides, films, graphs analyzing research data, or any other venue showing what conclusions they've come to based on their work.

"I want to know what questions they've been asking, what answers they've been getting, and how they've been analyzing it," Bacon said. "That's research to me."

Most Woodrow Wilson fellows recognize that the program, while with its own faults, is unique and an asset to Hopkins.

"It's a program that not too many students have," Vora said. "It wets your appetite for different things."

Moss agrees, for the most part. "I would recommend it for a lot of people," she said. "It's a good program, but it needs work."

In only the fifth year since its inception, David agrees it's still a work in progress.

"We learn something new each year," he said.