URCA

Approximately 590 MSU undergraduates registered to participate in UURAF 2012.  The Undergraduate Research Office is reviewing abstracts and will email registered students their presentation times after Spring Break.  Contact the undergradaute research office with questions at uuraf@msu.edu or 517-884-1559.

UURAF REGISTRATION EXTENDED! Registration for the 2012 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) will close on Sunday, February 19 at 11:59 PM. Any student wishing to present their research or creative project needs to submit their registration on-line by the deadline.  Email uuraf@msu.edu or call 517-884-1559 with questions.

Professor Robert LaDuca (Lyman Briggs College) and his undergraduate student researcher, Greg Farnum, have won the 2012 American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research. The award recognizes the collaborative research of an outstanding North American undergraduate student and her or his preceptor(s) in the field of inorganic chemistry. Congratulations to Dr. LaDuca and Greg Farnum.

Monday 6 February 2012 is National Science Foundation (NSF) Day at Michigan State. Undergraduate researchers will want to check out the morning session on graduate fellowship opportunities at the NSF. Registration starts at 9:30 am in the Ballroom at the MSU Union. Visit the event website at http://research.msu.edu/nsf-day-michigan-state-university to register.

The nomination deadline for the 2012 Featherstone Prize has passed. Finalists will be notified by 24 February 2012, and finalists’ interviews will be held on Friday 30 March 2012. The award recipient will be notified by 2 April 2012. A luncheon for the nominees and nominators will be held on 25 April 2012, and the Featherstone Prize will be presented to the recipient at the appropriate commencement/ awards ceremony. For further information, contact the Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education at (517) 353-5380 (e-mail: weberka4@msu.edu) or the Featherstone Society representative, Dr. Jackie Taylor (jdiane@comcast.com).

As November gives way to December, most Spartans' thoughts turn to the end of the term and the pleasures of the upcoming Winter Break. While rest and relaxation is a must, here are five things you can do over the holidays to help launch (or fuel) your work as an undergraduate researcher at Michigan State (preferably over a mug of hot chocolate).

Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, is hosting the 2012 National Conference on Undergraduate Research, March 29-31, 2012. Undergraduate students who have participated in research, or other forms of scholarly, creative or artistic work, may submit an abstract to NCUR for possible acceptance and presentation. The deadline for abstract submission is November 15, 2011.

As Halloween approaches, even undergraduate researchers' thoughts turn to things that spook, scare, and go bump in the night. Dr. Chris Waters' lab is no exception. He and his team of graduate and undergraduate researchers filmed Protein 666 -  a monster movie that depicts what happens when a mysterious substance threatens to zombify an entire research team!
 

Engaged scholar Lily Asquith, Ph.D is noted for her innovative approach for turning physics data into sound/music for the research and for the public to use for artistic purposes. She will speak on Wednesday 12 October from 3:30-4:30 pm, (with reception to follow) in Red Cedar Rooms A/B at the Kellogg Center. For details, see: http://ncsue.msu.edu/esss/asquith.aspx.

The Social Sciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) is offering a limited number of travel grants, up to $200 each, for undergraduate students presenting the results of research that they have conducted at a regional or national, discipline-specific meeting during the fiscal year 2011 - 2012. Award recipients are required to acknowledge CUR for support of their travel in their talk or poster. After the meeting, a brief report about the experience is expected. Minority students are encouraged to apply. The Undergraduate Research Office will match the award amount for any MSU student who is awarded the travel grant.