THERE IS little doubt of the value of research: It furthers our understanding of the world and the contexts in which we live. On the whole, people do not question the resources invested in research. Undergraduate research is only a small and special category of the sum total of research that goes on in the world. Why then should we care about it? Because having a community of undergraduate researchers helps both students and faculty, and the university as a whole.
The experience of doing research as an undergraduate offers both academic and personal advantages. At the undergraduate level, education tries to instill in students the intellectual curiosity that is necessary for success in life beyond college.+ Students learn, during their undergraduate experience, how to ask the right questions, and by taking part in research they learn how to answer those questions on their own, instead of always relying on a higher authority. This is precisely why undergraduate research is so essential: not because it teaches gel electrophoresis or library research methods or how to do statistical inference, but rather because it teaches one how to ask clear questions, evaluate their validity, and explain these evaluations in a rationally defensible way. Research is the proving ground of thought.
Research experience opens doors for students: A single line about research experience on a resume says that a student has the ability - both mental and technical - as well as the discipline to conduct a research project; that a student is committed to making his or her education deeper than what is taught in a traditional classroom; and that a student is already actively interested and engaged in their chosen field. Research experience also makes students more attractive in today's job market, where analytical and technical thinking are skills in high demand.
In addition, while courses in the traditional classroom can be interesting and entertaining, research is really exhilarating. There is no syllabus in research. One never knows what will be discovered from day to day. Conducting independent research over the course of a semester or year teaches students discipline, commitment and persistence. Research projects also encourage students to develop close relationships with professors around Grounds. The faculty is an invaluable resource to students and helps truly shape the course of their undergraduate educations. There is no better way to mature academically than these relationships.
These same professors, however, most often also benefit from these relationships. In addition to the sense of pride that goes along with being able to watch and aid in the intellectual development of a student (which some professors have been known to liken to parenthood), professors gain in their student researchers some of their most eager, capable, and enthusiastic colleagues. And by having more hands and more brains working on the projects they hold dear, faculty researchers are helped in their own work by student researchers.
Moreover, a more active community of student researchers will help in the development of the University: Increasing support and funding for undergraduate research will help boost the University in an area where it has lagged for several years. The University is far behind in undergraduate research as compared to other nationally competing institutions. For example, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley and even Virginia Tech - all of whom we are in competition with for quality students and faculty - have extensive and easily accessible support for undergraduate research. And while other universities, including the ones listed above, have had multiple journals for undergraduate research for decades, our journal of undergraduate research, "The Occulus," first went to print just this March, published by the Undergraduate Research Network. If the University wants to remain a top-tier, competitive undergraduate institution, it needs to fully support and expand undergraduate research programs. Increasing the vivacity and the visibility of a community of student researchers will, in the long run, give the University a competitive advantage.
Earlier this semester, Prof. Stephen Cushman said that the most under-utilized resource at this University was its students. By empowering our University's undergraduate populations to take the next step in their education, we are not only helping them, but the faculty and the whole University as well. The future of our institution's academic reputation depends on this empowerment. We must support undergraduate research.
(Richard Barnes and Kurt Mitman are second-year College students.)
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