7/31/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Cliff Chancey, editor, American Journal of Undergraduate Research, (319) 273-2425

James O'Connor, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

Note to editors/news directors: A 200-dpi color JPEG image of the American Journal of Undergraduate Research is available on the Web at http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/AJUR.jpeg

UNI launches undergraduate scientific research journal

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa recently launched the "American Journal of Undergraduate Research," a refereed journal of the pure and applied sciences. It will be published quarterly.

According to Cliff Chancey, head of UNI's Department of Physics, and the journal's editor, undergraduate science students are increasingly involved in scientific research.

"Our university places a premium on undergraduate field experience," explained Chancey. "Twenty or 30 years ago, undergraduate students weren't as often included in research. During the past decade, we've found that faculty members around the world are mentoring more and more undergraduate researchers and including them as authors on their research articles in standard literature."

According to Chancey, the journal has four purposes: 1) Help undergraduate researchers become better scientists by helping them become better writers and expositors of science; 2) Provide a forum that is broader than a single discipline; 3) Encourage submissions from undergraduates engaged in scientific or technical research wherever they may be in the world; and 4) Offer a review process that provides an assessment of research beyond that provided on individual college campuses.

College faculty across the United States and from several countries formed a network to produce the first issue. The American Journal of Undergraduate Research is on the Web at www.ajur.uni.edu. The June 2002 issue contains instructions for submissions. To subscribe, contact Chancey at c.chancey@uni.edu.

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7/31/02

Carl Thurman, UNI associate professor of biology, 273-2276

Cheryl Smith, program assistant, UNI College of Natural Sciences, (319) 273-6809

Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

UNI student research scientists to report findings in poster session Friday, Aug. 2

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- A group of "research scientists-in-the-making" will present the results of their summer research projects on biology, chemistry, physics and earth science at the Merck/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Summer Undergraduate Research Meeting that begins at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2, on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Some 40-50 UNI students in UNI summer undergraduate research programs in the natural sciences, including six Merck/AAAS scholars, will participate in the meeting in the Seerley Hall Great Reading Room.  They will display posters describing their work and be available to discuss their research

Clifton Chancey, head of the UNI physics department will open the meeting with a presentation titled "How Is a Neuron Like an Elephant?"  Student posters will be exhibited from noon to 1:30 p.m. 

"For students, summer research is an experience that coalesces what they have learned in individual courses into a coherent picture," said Carl Thurman, associate professor of biology, who is directing the Merck/AAAS program.  "And faculty have an opportunity to work with some of the brightest students on campus."

UNI is one of 15 U.S. colleges and universities that received an award from Merck/AAAS.   The program, which aims to promote interdisciplinary research experiences among undergraduates, is funded by the Merck Company Foundation, a private charitable foundation established by pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck & Co., and administered by the AAAS, the world's largest federation of scientific and engineering societies.

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