STUDENT RECOGNITIONS

R&I CORDING CEREMONY HONORS SOLID WORK ETHIC OF GRADUATING STUDENT RESEARCHERS

Over the last year, Prairie View A&M University’s Division of Research & Innovation held two cording ceremonies to honor candidates for graduation who also have been student researchers during their time at Prairie View A&M University.

PVAMU Vice President for Research and Innovation Dr. Magesh T. Rajan wanted a special way to acknowledge those who are graduating for their commitment to being engaged in the research process and a driving force to elevating the awareness of scholarly research underway at all three campuses to a global audience.

“I am proud to be able to recognize these deserving scholars for their contribution to the Faculty-Research & Innovation for Scholarly Excellence (Faculty-RISE) Program,” shared Rajan. “One of the reasons I created the RISE research funding is to serve as a gateway for students to learn the research process alongside dedicated faculty members. By being actively engaged with their mentor, they opened their minds to the power and possibility of research. For 2021-2022, R&I is funding more than 100 undergraduate and graduate scholars to serve as student research assistants.”

R&I held its inaugural cording ceremony in the fall of 2021, recognizing graduate and undergraduate student researchers, and continued to a much-expanded cording ceremony in Spring of 2022. The 2022 Spring Cording Ceremony had a special significance in that the event was R&I’s first cording as an R2 institution, and the program also included undergraduate and graduate students involved in innovation initiatives.

“Graduate research requires passion, perseverance, integrity, a strong work ethic, and more importantly, in the present day, gathering authentic information on any topic or issue, among others,” said Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthi, Ph.D., Executive Director of Research Administration. “Our graduates can apply those attributes and skills to any career when entering the real world. That will lead to faculty research grants to train and support more and more students, thus repeating the cycle for building a more robust research university.”

The Spring 2022 Cording Ceremony took on an elevated meaning for dozens of undergraduate and graduate students as nearly 30 candidates for graduation were recognized.

Research Development Officer Grace T. Abolaji, Ph.D., coordinated RISE Undergraduate Research. She commended the honorees for being dedicated to excellence. “You have worked so hard engaging in different innovative research projects with your mentors and participating in various related activities like symposiums, conferences, workshops and seminars,” Abolaji said.

Alexis Sparks, a student researcher, reflected on how much practical experience she has acquired while doing research. “When I first started, I didn’t really know exactly what I’d be doing besides, maybe reading articles,” Sparks said. “But throughout time, I was able to go to different conferences and present on everything I’ve researched and actually put everything I’ve learned into effect.”

Undergraduate Research Day

R&I nurtures undergraduate research across all disciplines. Nearly 100 undergraduate students from various departments and PVAMU colleges participated and showcased research poster presentations throughout the day to hundreds of faculty, students and guests who attended.

INTERNATIONAL – SYMPOSIUM OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXCELLENCE (I-SURE)

For the second-annual International–Symposium of Undergraduate Research Excellence (I-SURE) the virtual presentations featured international institutions including students from Bishop Stuart University in Mbarara, Uganda, and Kwara State University in Malete, Nigeria, with each presenting their faculty-mentored international collaborative and interdisciplinary research. I-SURE attracted nearly 30 faculty and students from around the world.