The Office of Undergraduate Research announces that the Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applying Research (U-SOAR), formally RESS, is planned to take place June 1 to August 6, 2020. We strongly encourage applications and have a set an application deadline of April 10 at 4:30 p.m. We will be monitoring guidance from the university with respect to COVID-19 and our ability to offer this program.
The U-SOAR program is open to all undergraduate students in all majors across the university. The only requirement is that you are currently an undergraduate student who will be enrolled in classes at IUP during the fall 2020 semester. Check out the U-SOAR application on InfoReady. (Scroll down until you see "U-SOAR 2020.")
Why should you do U-SOAR? Besides just building your rsum, this free program puts you right in the middle of cutting-edge research and scholarship, promises some of the best networking opportunities and professional development events at IUP, and will connect with you great great resources. In addition, we are excited to announce that this year all student researchers accepted into the U-SOAR program will receive housing on campus and a meal plan during the 10-week program, allowing U-SOAR to be an option for all undergraduate students. Additional stipends may also be available. (Please note that campus housing and meal plans may change based on university-wide regulations regarding the coronavirus.)
In this 10-week summer program, students work alongside faculty mentors on new research in their fields. Before applying to the program, you should find a faculty member who wants to work on research with you during the summer. The easiest way to find a faculty member to work with is to write them an email and ask them if they are interested! The application will ask for your faculty mentor's information, as well as a description of what you plan to research.
During the summer, there will be seven events leading up to the research symposium on August 6. All participants in U-SOAR are required to attend four of the seven events leading up to the symposium and are required to have a submission at the research symposium on August 6 (for most participants, this will be a poster).
The dates of these events are:
- Monday, June 1: Ice Cream Social
- Wednesday, June 10: Resume/CV Writing Workshop
- Wednesday, June 17: Presenter Lunch Series #1
- Wednesday, June 24: Presenter Lunch Series #2
- Wednesday, July 8: Presenter Lunch Series #3
- Wednesday, July 22: Essentials of Poster Design Workshop
- Wednesday, July 29: U-SOAR Celebration Day
- Thursday, August 6: U-SOAR Research Symposium
If you have any further questions about the program, you can send them to Dr. Bouchat at rbouchat@iup.edu.
Note: All subject to change, based on university guidance related to COVID-19.