Hello Everyone.
I hope your semester is off to a great start! I would like to share a few URAD updates with you…
Please join me in welcoming Jennifer Chamberlin Payne to the URAD staff. Jennifer, recently with the UNM McNair/ROP program, serves as the URAD Senior Student Success Specialist. Jennifer will focus on expanding student programming in research, arts and design, and will help students find opportunities for engagement. She will also coordinate the annual Undergraduate Research Opportunities Conference (UROC), which was founded by Kyoko Simmons and Sarita Cargas in Honors College. If you would like to chat with Jennifer, please feel free to email her at jcham@unm.edu.
URAD Profiles. Late in the Fall of 2020, we hired two students to begin writing stories about UNM’s undergraduate research, arts and design endeavors. Before the holiday break, we completed two such stories, posted here: https://urad.unm.edu/urad_profiles.html. The first story describes undergraduate research in Gary Weissmann’s course Water in Earth Systems (ENVS 323L), and the second features the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowships, led at UNM by Kiyoko Simmons. If you would like your program or course to be featured in future stories, please be sure to complete this quick form: https://urad.unm.edu/tell-us-form.html
URAD Showcase Committee. The new URAD Student Showcase and Recognition Framework committee began meeting in the Fall semester. This committee is focused on expanding UNM’s exhibition of student research, arts and design. Upcoming projects include: workshops or courses introducing students to ePortfolios; new competitions and cash prizes for student projects; and a new website for showcasing student work. If you would like to join this committee, please email timschroeder@unm.edu, or complete this quick form: https://urad.unm.edu/signup-form.html
URAD Student Resources Committee. This semester, we will also begin convening the URAD Student Resources committee. This group will create new resources to help students leverage their research, arts and design activities to meet their personal and professional goals. Once these resources have been created, we will share them on a new Student version of the URAD website. If you are interested in joining this committee, please email Jennifer Chamberlin Payne at jcham@unm.edu, or complete this quick form: https://urad.unm.edu/signup-form.html
2022 UROC. The 2022 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference (UROC) will be Thursday, April 7, 2022. This year’s conference will be hybrid, with most events available to students either in-person at the SUB, or online via Zoom. UROC is open to students from all UNM campuses. Student submissions for poster sessions, oral presentations, UROC-180 and the Research Story competition are due February 28, 2022 at 11:00 pm. The UROC schedule can be found at https://uresearch.unm.edu/uroc/conference-schedule.html, and the conference format be found at https://uresearch.unm.edu/uroc/index.html, Abstracts can be submitted at https://forms.unm.edu/forms/2022uroc_submission.
Included in UROC this year are two student competitions. The first, UROC 180, challenges students to present their research in just 180 seconds to a general audience with no background in your research area. Think of this as an elevator pitch explaining their research. The top 3 winners will receive scholarships ($500 1st prize, $300 2nd prize, & $200 3rd prize). The second, Research Story, encourages students to communicate the story behind their research project. This will others to better understand the context of their research, and to see the journey they took in formulating and implementing their project. We invite students to create videos, webpages or essays that describes their research journey. The top story will receive a $250 cash prize.
BRANCH CAMPUS VISITS. URAD will be coming to Gallup, Los Alamos, Taos and Valencia this spring. URAD leaders will be visiting the branch campuses in late February and early March to learn more about the innovative student engagements offered there. If you would like more information about these visits, please contact URAD Director Tim Schroeder at timschroeder@unm.edu.
URAD FOR STUDENTS WEBSITE. We have created a new URAD for Students website at https://urad.unm.edu/students/index.html. If you would like us to post your events, opportunities or resources on this website, please email Jennifer Chamberlin Payne at jcham@unm.edu, We expect this page to expand and evolve quickly over the next six months.
STUDENT TEAM RESEARCH COMPETITION. We encourage students to compete in the Second Annual Student Team Research Concept Competition. Current UNM students are invited to work together across disciplines to submit proposals for their team-based research concept. Teams will present their research proposals at the Team Research Symposium held virtually from April 19-21, 2022, and teams could win up to $2000 in cash prizes. For more information, encourage students to go to https://urad.unm.edu/strc.html.
ECURE RFP. UNM is now starting the third year of the NSF-funded ECURE program (Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences). This program provides summer stipends and support for UNM instructors who wish to incorporate undergraduate research into their STEM general education and other entry-level courses. If you would like to learn more, or apply to participate in 2022-23, check out https://urad.unm.edu/faculty-staff/ecure.html. The application deadline is March 25, 2022.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please reach out to Tim Schroeder at timschroeder@unm.edu or Jennifer Chamberlin Payne at jcham@unm.edu.
Have a great week!
Tim Schroeder
