Inspiring Tomorrow’s Scientists Today

Students from Across America Come to UA for 10 Weeks of Intensive Instruction

by Lance M. Skelly and Janice Fink

Heather White, a Florida State student, Robert Upchurch, West Alabama, and Marlyn Thompson, Alabama State, conduct research at UA.
Heather White, a Florida State student, Robert Upchurch, West Alabama, and Marlyn Thompson, Alabama State, conduct research at UA.

Each summer, some of America’s best and brightest students spend 10 weeks at The University of Alabama, taking part in intensive undergraduate research programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

In the Summer Undergraduate Research Participation Program, UA’s chemistry department hosts a group of highly qualified sophomore and junior students from colleges across the country, who exhibit an interest and academic background in chemistry. During their stay, each student conducts individual research projects under the close supervision and support of UA chemistry faculty members.

The program — along with a separate, similar program hosted by UA’s Center for Materials for Information Technology for top students studying physics, metallurgical and materials engineering, chemical engineering and chemistry — is supported financially by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates, or REU, program.

“This program offers students an excellent opportunity to participate in handson experiments, while working with our faculty, staff and graduate students in an atmosphere of research, collaboration and individual discovery,” said Dr. Lowell Kispert, professor and chair of the chemistry department. “It is the main goal of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program to stimulate the interest of these outstanding students through their active participation in a meaningful 10-week research project. It has been designed so that the scholars will develop the confidence and independence in carrying out research on topics of interest, while also developing work skills which will allow them to report results and communicate with peers and student colleagues.”

Dr. Garry Warren, professor of metallurgical and materials engineering and director of MINT’s REU program, said the UA Center for Materials for Information Technology has hosted its program for six years.

“This year we had the most geographically diverse group ever,” he said. Students visited from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, California and West Virginia. And there was even a UA physics student in their ranks.

“The projects they worked on this summer were also quite diverse, and reflect the wide range of research activities that make up the MINT program,” Warren said. MINT is a multidisciplinary research program focusing on new materials for advanced data storage. A major emphasis is on materials for magnetic heads and media, key components in high-performance information storage systems.

This year, MINT’s REU projects included nanolithography of silicon surfaces using an atomic force microscope; the development of new photovoltaic devices; examining the mechanical properties of magnetic tape; and constructing a high frequency loop tracer that can be used at megahertz speeds to measure and characterize the magnetic properties of materials at very high frequencies. Participants make presentations about their research findings during their final week on campus.

“We hope that by giving these students a taste of research we can encourage them to attend graduate school in their fields of interest,” said Warren. “There is currently a nationwide shortage of science and engineering Ph.D.’s. This NSF program is an effort to introduce undergrads to the excitement of performing research in a laboratory environment.”

“Most of these students are at least thinking about going on to graduate school, so our intention is to help them get an experience to let them know what it’s going to be like at the next level. And I think it serves that role very well,” said Dr. Silas Blackstock, associate professor of chemistry and program mentor of the chemistry-based program, known as SURP.

“I find that students really enjoy their experiences, and while an occasional student may find out that research is not really his or her game, most have found that it is really exciting and an experience they want to build upon. It’s the kind of experience you really don’t get in an undergraduate curriculum. They fit into the graduate program — in a sense — in that they work with the professors and postdoctoral students, and they really become full-time students who work just like a graduate student, while gaining an authentic research experience.”

The program, which exists on approximately 60 campuses nationwide, is highly selective. This year in UA’s SURP program, 14 students were selected from more than 65 applications, with participants hailing from Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, New Jersey, Alabama, and elsewhere.

In SURP, conducted by UA’s chemistry department since the mid-1980s, participants are exposed to chemistry instruction, experiments, scientific reports, and seminars designed to enhance students’ perception of their chosen career paths, as well as the world of responsible business practice.

“We strive to offer these students as well-rounded a curriculum as possible, with seminars including ethics in government, science, medicine, law, academics and industry,” said Kispert. “It is our goal that while the participants are gaining a firsthand experience into chemistry research, they are also developing a knowledge of the ideals and practices that may one day govern their actions and impact on the society they will serve. But, we also strive to make each student’s stay pleasant and fun by offering outside extracurricular activities that foster community amongst participants, while also letting them blow off a little steam. So it is not all work and no play.”

According to Adam Kiefer, a chemistry major from Allegheny College who is making his second appearance at the UA program, choosing to come to UA for 10 weeks not once, but twice, was easy. “I basically chose UA for two reasons. I was here last summer and just had a great time. If you’re working on something you enjoy and having fun doing it, then it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Kiefer. “Plus, I had the chance to work with Dr. Michael Cava (Ramsay Professor of Chemistry) doing research that I am very interested in.”

“When it was time for the summer to roll around and I spoke with my professors about possible internships, they suggested The University of Alabama,” said Micheal Fultz, a chemistry major from the University of Tennessee, Martin. “I’ve found that the people and instructors here have been really great in that they have been attentive to my many questions, and they have helped me along through my instruction. It has been a great experience and something I would definitely recommend to other students.”

Both students said they are considering UA for graduate school. “You can’t help but be impressed by the quality of instruction provided by the faculty and graduate students we’ve been associated with,” said Kiefer. “This is my second time here, so I have definitely enjoyed my experience at the University, and this has helped me to consider Alabama for graduate school.”

Blackstock said one of the primary reasons the SURP program at UA has become so popular is because of the leadership and vision of Kispert.

“Dr. Kispert has done just an outstanding job at making this not only a positive learning and research experience, but also a rewarding interpersonal experience,” said Blackstock. “He has worked diligently to not only provide a program that offers an outstanding chemistry research curriculum, but also one that is created to promote social and professional interaction between the participants. Research can often be a lonely experience, but Dr. Kispert and the rest of the faculty and graduate students have excelled at bringing the students together in the labs and classrooms, as well as the academic setting, through the inclusion of numerous social and cultural activities.”

According to Kispert, the chemistry department receives from NSF $58,000 annually for three years, and must reapply every three years on a competitive basis for funding. Participants are provided with housing in UA student apartments and given $3,000 stipends and money for travel, supplies and other operative costs.

“Thanks to the National Science Foundation, we are really able to offer an attractive package to potential students. We certainly feel like our chemistry program offers a top-notch educational experience, and the generous funding from the NSF makes it all possible for the students to make the most of their opportunity,” said Kispert.

This year both programs also offered, in combination with the opportunity for college students, the Research Experiences for Teachers program. In this separately funded, NSF-sponsored program, UA experts reach, via the participating high school teachers, right into the classrooms of Alabama. Seven teachers from local high schools participated.

“We are able to bring some of Alabama’s chemistry teachers into our program, which combines them with our SURP students,” Kispert said. “They also work in conjunction with our faculty and staff in developing a research track. But the most important aspect of this program is that these instructors will then be able to return to their classrooms in the fall and teach their students what they have learned here at The University of Alabama,” said Kispert. “It is the perfect example of service through research and teaching.”

Although the SURP program has evolved over the last three decades, Kispert said the goal has always remained the same … to excite and inform students into making a decision that will lead them into a career of chemistry.

“We have found that if you reach them early enough and do something to stimulate their interest in the field of chemistry, they will in turn become more interested in making chemistry their chosen profession. And this goes both ways with our new RET program, as well. The teachers take what they have learned, go back to their high schools and teach their students,” said Kispert. “We are in desperate need in America for more scientists, so we are trying to do our best at identifying and recruiting students. We feel pretty good that our program, with the backing of the NSF, is accomplishing its goal of training and inspiring tomorrow’s scientists.”