• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

The program recruits students from universities throughout the U.S. and Mexico to prepare them for graduate studies.

By University Communications
August 12, 2008

The University of Arizona’s Undergraduate Summer Research Program concluded on Tuesday.

The program brought in 75 students selected from schools across the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico who are saying their goodbyes after participating in 10 weeks of intensive research training on the UA campus.

During the 13th Annual Undergraduate Summer Research Program Poster Session and Closing Ceremony, keynote speaker Eugene Sander, vice president for outreach and dean of the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, told the students to strongly consider a career in research. “Research is one of the most exciting professions and important decisions of your lives,” Sander said.

The scholars were selected based on their high academic achievement, research experience and a desire to pursue graduate education in the fields of science, education, health, humanities and social science.

All the students are college juniors or seniors currently enrolled in universities throughout the U.S. and Mexico, and some are enrolled as undergraduates at the UA.

“The program allows the students to spend 10 weeks working as if they were graduate students and gives the faculty an opportunity to evaluate each of them for their ability to do well in graduate school. If so, they will be recruited heavily to join our exclusive graduate student body,” said Maria Teresa Velez, associate dean of the UA Graduate College.

The students are sponsored through various national programs including the Minority Access to Research Careers program, the U.S. Department of Education’s Ronald E. McNair Achievement program and the Mexico Science & Engineering Research program.

In addition, funding was provided by the UA’s Summer Research Institute, the BIO5 Institute, as well as several UA colleges and departments.

The students displayed their summer research efforts in poster presentations exhibited during the closing ceremony and via colloquia that began last week.

As part of their research training, the students were partnered with a UA faculty mentor and they participated in research projects and workshops to prepare them for successful acceptance to graduate school.

During the Mexico-UA Summer Research Program, 16 students recruited from four universities in Mexico bonded as they stayed in on-campus residence halls and acclimated to U.S. culture while refining their English skills.

Their presentations showed a diverse array of research interests. Maria Jose Mojardin-Lopez,an international business major at the Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa, presented findings on her study of immigrant women and healthcare. She as mentored by Ana Ochoa-O’Leary, and adjunct professor of Mexican American Studies at the UA.

Omar Cervantes-Funes, a pharmaceutical and biology chemistry major from the Universidad de la Salle in Mexico City, shared his research on cancer tumor growth. He was mentored by Laurence Hurley, a professor of medicinal chemistry and associate director of the BIO5 Institute.

During the colloquia, Velez and other faculty questioned the students on their research and praised them for their hard work.

“These summer programs show these students can help address real problems that need real solutions. And now these students are a few steps ahead of others going into graduate programs,” Velez said. “This is an excellent opportunity to recruit top students for master’s and doctoral programs at the UA. They are here working hard to show the talent and background and to move forward in academia with their unique perspective.”