During the summer, things slow down on USC's Columbia campus, but not in research. Though many undergraduate students depart campus to spend their summers working, completing internships and enjoying a little well-earned time off, many stay here—or visit from other colleges and universities—to spend time in the lab and the field, working on exciting research projects.
To give these diligent researchers an opportunity to showcase their accomplishments, the Office of the Vice President for Research held a Summer Research Symposium on Thursday, July 31. At the symposium, undergraduate students who participated in research projects over the summer presented their work through a poster session and reception held at the Arnold School of Public Health Research Center. The symposium was an exciting opportunity to bring together all summer research programs held at USC, including four Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs (chemical engineering, marine biogeochemistry, physics and astronomy and psychology), SC – Alliance for Minority Participation, Steps to STEM and the USC-Morris College Research Mentoring Program.
This was an especially meaningful occasion for a group of seven students from Morris College who were participating in the final year of USC-Morris College Summer Mentoring Program. Through a Department of Energy grant, this program funded room, board and salary for the Morris College students to spend ten weeks working with USC faculty mentors on research projects in biology, environmental health and mathematics, enjoying professional development and social activities, and learning about USC's graduate school. Several of these students had spent the past the past two summers in the program, as well, making this summer's symposium a bittersweet capstone to their multi-year experience.
Though the USC-Morris College Summer Mentoring Program is coming to an end, the Office of the Vice President for Research will continue to support summer research programs for undergraduate students through our professional development workshops for summer research students, the annual Summer Research Symposium and the Office of Undergraduate Research. Read more about the 2014 Summer Research Symposium via @UofSC news.