VCU Celebrates 2nd Annual Student Research Week

By Sara Craun

Another successful Student Research Week at Virginia Commonwealth University has come to a close with a wide variety of projects showcased from many different disciplines across campuses.

The second annual Research Week was held to help spark creativity and celebrate research and scholarship of undergraduate and graduate student researchers.

“Research Week is really the culmination for quite a few students here at VCU to present the research that they have been working on for the past year,” said Herb Hill, event organizer and coordinator of Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the VCU Office of Research.

“It’s really a fantastic event not only for them to present their research to each other but to network with other students to learn more about what kind of research is going on here at VCU and to find ways to communicate that research.”

The kick-off event for this year’s Research Week was a lecture by Jad Abumrad, the host and producer of Radiolab, a nationally syndicated program focused on explorations of scientific and philosophic questions meant to captivate listeners. Abumrad gave a humorous and profound talk about the importance of sharing science stories so that a general audience could understand the wonder, amusement and usefulness found within technical topics.

The Graduate Student Research Symposium was featured on the second day, when graduate students in a variety of academic disciplines showcased their research, including projects that are serving as their thesis projects.

Jacquelyn Meyers, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, presented her project titled “Genes Have Both Trait-Specific and General Association with Measures of Alcohol Use and Abuse,” during the symposium. She enjoyed seeing the research from all different educational backgrounds within the university.

“I think the symposium is really cool,” said Meyers. “It’s really interesting to see research from all over the university, not just the sciences.”

Another opportunity for students to present their research was during the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium. During the event, the 2012 cohort of students entering the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program was announced.

During his welcome remarks at the symposium, VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., discussed how undergraduate and graduate research is an important part of VCU’s Quest for Distinction, the university’s strategic plan.

“The most rewarding thing I do is watching you (the students) benefit from the foundation that we create, watching you benefit so that you can in turn benefit the people who will come after us,” said Rao.

“You will have made an enormous difference in what we understand to be human life, and I am so proud of you for that. You are what represents everything that I love in a research university, and you are brightening the star that is VCU.”

On Thursday, the Student Research Experience and Careers in Science panel was held. During the event, current VCU student researchers, faculty mentors and VCU alumni discussed their research pendeavors and careers with those in the audience. The VCU Student Research Organization, MARC Program and VCU Center on Health Disparities hosted the event.

On Friday, the final day of the week-long event, three separate events held throughout the city highlighted student research from across the university.

The School of Social Work Research Symposium featured research projects conducted throughout the school year by social work students. Many of these students are using these topics as the focus of their future careers and hope to continue doing research throughout their lives.

The VCU School of Engineering Senior Design Show, an annual event, is the culmination of eight months of effort and allows engineering students to share their research and design prototypes with the greater Richmond community. The event was hosted by the Science Museum of Virginia.

Engineering students shared a range of projects from varying disciplines within engineering. One interdisciplinary team engineered a robotic hand, which was controlled via a sensor glove system. The robotic hand could be used to make it safer for workers by keeping them a safe distance away from potentially dangerous conditions, but still allow them to perform the necessary task in a natural fashion. The team called for students from electrical, mechanical and nuclear engineering fields to come together to bring their different areas of expertise to the table.

A new event this year was the VCU Venture Creation Competition, hosted by VCU’s da Vinci Center for Innovation. The business plan competition was aimed at sparking the entrepreneurial spirit of all VCU students across both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses. For more information about the competition, visit http://www.news.vcu.edu/news/VCU_Announces_Winners_of_its_First_Venture_Creation_Competition. 

Research Week was sponsored by the VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, VCU Graduate Student Association, the VCU Office of Research and the VCU Office of the Provost.