Please contribute to our Science Research Initiative Program Many undergraduates major in science in the hope of doing research someday. Others are curious about doing research but unsure about how it aligns with their talents and interests. Now, the College of Science is offering an innovative program called the Science Research Initiative (SRI) that puts students in a lab as soon as they arrive on campus. “The most consequential learning happens by doing, and that is especially true in the College of Science,” said Peter Trapa, Dean of the college. “Experiences in a laboratory-centered, team-based, interdisciplinary environment give students the skills to succeed and access opportunities in high-paying industries,” he said. “The SRI offers incoming students, with no prior exposure to research, the opportunity to learn alongside their peers to gain hands-on, technical expertise, and learn directly from researchers as early as their first year at the U. The college’s exceptional faculty, world-class research facilities, and commitment to in-person experiential learning make this unique program possible.”
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How the SRI works Any student admitted to the College of Science can apply. During the first semester, the cohort of SRI undergraduates takes a course that prepares them to work in a research lab. The course teaches basic research techniques, the principles of scientific inquiry, and breaks down the structure of lab, such as the roles of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and the principal investigator. After learning about the research projects, known as “research streams,” the students rank the labs they’d most like to experience. The program matches them to an SRI faculty scientist leading the project where they will work during the second semester. Then, SRI mentors help each student figure out a path forward, whether it be continuing with the research stream, switching projects, or even leaving lab-based research altogether.
