UCSD - University of California - San Diego
08/27/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/27/2024 03:19
Summer Research Conference Draws International Crowd
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August 27, 2024Story by:
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While some escape San Diego's warm summer temperatures by enjoying the coastal La Jolla breeze, fourth-year students Austin Hutton and Lucia Rejzek sought respite this summer in an air-conditioned lab on campus.
After a summer of research in their respective labs, the duo were two of more than 400 participants from some 50 universities around the world-including UC San Diego-who presented their findings at the 2024 Summer Research Conference(SRC). Held each year at UC San Diego, the SRC is the region's largest research conference open to undergraduates conducting faculty-mentored research over the summer.
Fourth-year cognitive science major Austin Hutton.
Hutton's participation in the conference, and journey into faculty-mentored research, began in his car. While driving to neuroscientist Brad Voytek's Introduction to Data Science course early in the semester, he was listening to NPR and heard his professor's name mentioned as the segment's featured speaker. "I thought, 'I have to go talk to him after class,'" Hutton, a cognitive science major, remembered. "We talked about his work, I gave him my resume and hoped for the best."
The "best" was a spot as an undergraduate research assistant in the Voytek Lab, which uses findings from cognitive science, neuroscience and data science to uncover how the brain works.
Fourth-year biological anthropology major Lucia Rejzek.
Rejzek, meanwhile, relished the idea of doing research as an undergraduate. Growing up, she admired her mother, a UC San Diego alum and political science professor in Washington who focuses on women's health rights and social justice. Rejzek became interested in biological anthropology and epigenetics in high school, leading to a major in biological anthropology. "I became interested in heritable changes in gene expression and larger social determinants of health," she recalled. "I found Dr. Amy Non's research and knew I wanted to work with her."
Now, Rejzek is an undergraduate research assistant in Non's Epigenetic Anthropology Laboratory, working alongside the molecular anthropologist on the MOMS Study of Emotional and Epigenetic Resilience to investigate health disparities in emotional resilience and mental health among Mexican American mothers and their children.
Annually, students present their work at the Summer Research Conference, a component of UC San Diego's Undergraduate Research Hub (URH) Summer Research Program (SRP). The SRP consists of multiple summer programs that equip student researchers with the skills to become research scholars.
This year's Summer Research Conference-held August 14 and 15-featured presenters who were grouped into panels of related topics, ranging from Finding Community to Neurobiology, Psychology and Cognitive Science. Each participant had 12 minutes to present their research and three minutes to answer audience questions.
"[The format] is intentional to see if we can spark new conversations, get people thinking about collaboration or think about what someone said that gives them a new way of looking at their work," noted UC San Diego Dean of Undergraduate Research Advancement David Artis. "So much of the work researchers do can be isolating and private. Even if they're in the field, they're doing a lot by themselves and it's easy to not think about how these ideas will be received. It's great for the students to see how excited people are about their work."
What is the purpose of research if it's not accessible to the general public? - Lucia Rejzek
For Hutton, presenting at the conference was integral to his experience as a researcher. "Science doesn't happen in a bubble and it's really important to communicate what's going on with your projects and with science in general," he said. "[Presenting at the conference] has given me insight into how tricky science communication is and how important it is. I'm looking forward to getting better at it in the future."
Rejzek agreed: "So often within research, people get into their niche field and get used to using technical jargon. But I disagree with that as a larger thought process. What is the purpose of research if it's not accessible to the general public? Conferences force you to condense a super broad and complex project into something accessible for the public to absorb and listen to."
Artis is thrilled with the conference's growth, which he shared has grown dramatically over the past 15 years. "We encourage students to feel comfortable being experts, to think higher and about their aspirations," he said. "The impact lasts long. We've had people who've done [the SRC] and they write me later and tell me they have their PhD."
The impact of the Summer Research Conference and the URH is due in large part to the immense support both programs provide students, shared Rejzek. "I have weekly meetings with Dr. Non and with our research lab," she said. "The URH has been super helpful by providing weekly cohort meetings and professional development conferences. They give us tips on how to make a good LinkedIn, how to frame your resume, and how to ask for recommendations. Overall, the URH supports you so you can do the research by knowing all of the ins and outs of academia."
That structured support stems from undergraduates' desire to work with faculty and perform hands-on research, shared Artis. "We know that our students have high aspirations and research experience helps them achieve that," he said. "At a place like this, it's important that undergraduate students feel included and valued and make great contributions to research. I feel so grateful that people at the highest level believe in undergraduates as researchers."
"This is the dream," Hutton said. "This is why I'm here: to get my hands dirty and work on real problems. This is the first time in my academic career that I get to work on things that really matter. You're not just consuming knowledge. You're trying to help create it."
For more information on the Summer Research Conference at UC San Diego, please contact David Artis.
I feel so grateful that people at the highest level believe in undergraduates as researchers. - David Artis