When it comes to resume building, one of the strongest factors students can add is experience. With this in mind, two Geneseo associate professors of physics — James McLean and George Marcus — applied for and received a $200,680 three-year Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) grant from the National Science Foundation.
Their award led to the creation of a new summer program, known as SURGE, Supporting Undergraduate Research at Geneseo.
SURGE provides students from other schools, including four-year and community colleges, with an opportunity to conduct research at Geneseo while working alongside Geneseo professors and students.
Last summer, Geneseo became home to six students from Finger Lakes, Genesee, Corning and Monroe Community colleges with the kickoff of SURGE. The selection criteria included skill level, interests, and letters of recommendation. As a result, these students were able to work on a variety of projects, such as designing detection systems for inertial confinement or engineering an automated positioning system.
Geneseo senior Aidan Murphy, who worked with the first cohort of SURGE students, stressed the importance of undergraduate research opportunities, such as those provided through the SURGE program.
“It’s a really a good thing what Geneseo is doing with the SURGE program,” he said. “Having more opportunities for students to do research is something that I hope can be improved in the future. The lack of research opportunities at a lot of places can hurt you if you want to continue in academia.”
For example, many higher-education programs pay particular attention to applicants’ research history, which can often be the difference if other factors such as GPA or letters of recommendation are similar.
McLean, who served as principal investigator of SURGE, agrees with Murphy’s thoughts. “Experiences like this are also incredibly helpful to students when they are applying to graduate school,” he said. “It adds a whole new dimension to their applications, because the summer research is very much like the work needed to earn an advanced degree.”
SURGE is unique in that it provides students from outside of Geneseo with research opportunities they otherwise may not have due to a lack of such programs at their home institution. This is especially important to reach under-represented students interested in pursuing STEM careers; the 2016 SURGE class included two women.
“By engaging in authentic research over the summer, students gain first-hand experience of what it is like to participate in active research,” McLean said. “This often helps them to refine their own career goals.”
Murphy praised Geneseo for its efforts to broaden undergraduate research opportunities. “Expanding the number of (research) opportunities like that is a good thing for students,” he noted.
According to the Office of Sponsored Research, the REU program will accept seven students in the summer 2017 program and eight students in 2018.
Students interested in this summer’s program must submit their applications by Feb. 17th.
— By Genna Amick ’18, Academic Affairs communications intern
*Top photo is Associate Professor James McClean with SURGE students in 2016.
*Middle photo is Associate Professor George Marcus