Office of Undergraduate Research

This is the Tumblr for the Office of Undergraduate Research at Oberlin College.

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Listen up! UChicago has extended the deadline for their UChicago Summer Research Training Program, to accommodate one more undergraduate student from a LADO school. Information and link below:

Program Dates: APPLICATION DUE DATE: February 5. NOTIFICATION DATE: by February 12. Commitment Deadline: Ideally, by March 19. Email Elise LaRose, [email protected] or at [email protected] Program Move: In: Monday, June 11, 2018 Program Orientation: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 Due Date of Research Essay & Annotated Bibliography: August 7, 2018 Research Symposium for all UChicago Summer Research Students: August 9, 2018 (Students will also attend and present at the C3: LADO research symposium.) PROGRAM Departure: August 11, 2018. Student Stipend & Travel Expenses: Stipend: Somewhere between $3500- $4000. Please confirm the exact amount with your home institution. Please also note that you will earn credits and an official transcript from UChicago while in our program. You will likely be able to transfer credits to transfer these credits to your school. Travel Reimbursement: Yes, within reason. Please keep receipts and submit these during the first week of the program as scanned email attachments to Elise LaRose. Overview of the UChicago SRTP: A nine-week residential program (mid-June-mid-August), the UChicago Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) prepares students participating in Mellon-funded programs for graduate study and rigorous research. The majority of students in this program are Mellon Mays Fellows. Others participate in C3-LADO and the GSEF, also funded by the Mellon Foundation and the University of Chicago. The UChicago SRTP is a structured program, and operates a bit differently from other summer opportunity programs. In the SRTP students complete credit-bearing courses in academic writing and social theory, are closely mentored by advanced graduate students and faculty, attend multiple workshops and make presentations at the Chicago Research Symposium (held in the final week of the program). Through the SRTP, students deepen their analytic and creative capacities, develop further their scholarly writing and presentation skills, explore research approaches and methodologies relevant to their areas of study, and experience a unique community living among others who share both a passion for ideas and research as well as common values and commitments. The experience of community fostered by the SRTP takes its inspiration from the life and work of Benjamin Mays--alumnus of the University of Chicago and life-long civil and human rights.

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Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) May 28 - August 3, 2018 (Application Deadline February 20, 2018)

Become a National Science Foundation REU. Join undergraduates from around the country for a unique 10-week learning and living research experience in the southern Appalachians. Students conduct independent research in field ecology, evolution, behavior, and physiology under the supervision of Station scientists. REUs are internships that include all Station costs, travel, and a $5,500 stipend. 

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Application Process - Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration

APPLICATION PROCESS BEGINS SUMMER APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 1, 2018 SUMMER 2018 PROGRAM DATES: May 20, 2018- July 27, 2018 NOTE: In all fairness to the program staff and other applicants, we ask that you not accept our offer if you are waiting to hear back from another program. Complete & Submit Applicaton (Applications accepted November 20, 2017- April 1, …

2018 Research Experiences for Undergraduates Experimental and Computational Materials Research May 20, 2018 - July 27, 2018. 

Support: $5,000.00 Stipend (10-week appointment) PLUS additional support for travel and lodging.

Research Opportunities In: Electronic Materials, Nanomaterials, Lasers & Optical Materials, Biosensors, Biophysics & Biomaterials, Materials Under Pressure, Computer Modeling, Biomedical Research & More.

The REU Program is Hosted by the Center for Nanoscale Materials & Biointegration. 

APPLY ONLINE!

Applications Accepted: November 27, 2017 thru April 1, 2018. 

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TODAY @ 4:30pm, Hallock Auditorium! 

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Interview with recent Oberlin graduate and Oberlin College Research Fellow (OCRF) Peace Iyiewuare in May 2017. Interview by Brian Smith, OUR Student Assistant. Photo by Afia Ofori-Mensa, Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Research at Oberlin College.

Brian: Could you tell me your name, year, major, and faculty mentor?

Peace: My name is Peace Iyiewuare. I am a fourth-year student. Psych and Econ major. I did this research with Paul Thibodeau in the Psych Department during the year, and since he went on sabbatical I started doing the research with Nancy Darling, also in the Psych Department.

Brian: What did your research consist of?

Peace: The gist of it was looking at social presence online and seeing how it might have affected the patterns on online trading websites. It’s pretty much social presence, like the feeling of someone being there, or a website conveying a sense of warmth, or someone being on the website. That was conveyed through my research by having pictures of people on the website instead of inanimate objects. Also having socially rich text, using things such as exclamation marks and things like that as opposed to bland, concise sentences.

Brian: What do you find to be most meaningful about your research?

Peace: I think how it relates to the expanding nature of technology and also the applicability that technology holds, so it is used in a lot of fields and makes a lot of fields more efficient like the medical field, driving, communicating, and even fields like construction that use interfaces. Also, broadening the scope and not just looking at social presence but also how we interact with technology. So many fields use it. If we can do research to look at how interactions might be different in person versus online and if there are specific aspects of interacting with technology that can make these interactions more smooth. Not only can a lot of fields save a lot of money by cutting cost and making things more efficient, but it just makes stuff easier to use and more enjoyable.

Brian: What did you hope to gain from conducting your research?

Peace: With research in general, I would say overall finding a topic that you're interested in, coming up with a question, and looking for an answer is really satisfying. I hoped to gain a better understanding of technological interactions and how that applies to different fields. Me interacting with technology to donate money is different than me interacting with technology to increase someone’s IV drip in a hospital. I was just hoping to get a better understanding of what interacting with technology means. Hopefully my results will be applicable to multiple methods.

Brian: Will you continue your research beyond undergraduate education?

Peace: Yes, hopefully. Maybe not specifically this topic. I’m not too sure what I would want to continue doing, but yeah definitely. The [Master’s] program that I’m doing at the University of Texas at Austin is Information Architecture Design and Usability Research. Essentially what it is is everything that’s included in the creation of a product before it rolls out on the market. I do hope to continue research, if not the same thing then definitely researching how to make technology more efficient. 

Brian: What is it like to do research at Oberlin over the summer?

Peace: I thought it was pretty tight. In my opinion, having a close knit group of people all living together in the same dorm interacting with each other on a daily basis I thought was pretty cool. In the summer, when no one else is here, you get to experience the campus in a different way. It’s not always running to classes or doing work. A lot of times you can sit with yourself and the weather is pretty nice so you can sit on the porch of Wilder and do work and get a lot done. I also think seeing the campus empty made me appreciate it more. At the end of the day, when you’re done with your research, you can chill or pick up a new hobby. It was over the summer I started making beats, just to pick up something. I would say staying over the summer gives you a new appreciation of the campus. You also get to learn about other people’s research. If I hadn’t stayed over the summer, or did [OCRF], I wouldn’t have known what humanities research looked like (i.e. research in art, classics, or novels). Like [Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow Brandi Metzger] is doing research on queer women in science fiction. I thought that was crazy dope. 

Brian: What are your future goals at this point?

Peace: At this point the Master's program is a two-year program. I’d work for four or five years hopefully researching user experience. Working with and tweaking interfaces and making things easier to use and more efficient. Hopefully I’ll be working at a firm doing that for three to five years. I would say at that point if I’m still interested in doing research I will pursue a PhD in Human Factors.

Brian: What are some other activities, interests or hobbies that you pursue?

Peace: I love playing basketball, FIFA, and soccer in real life. I make beats, I love listening to music, searching through dollar bins to see what they have, going to record shops and finding old records that sound good. I like making beats and taking things off the vinyls.

Brian: What has been your favorite moment of your time in OCRF?

Peace: Cedar Point was dope. I haven’t been on a roller coaster since the fourth or fifth grade, and I haven’t been to an amusement park because they shut down Six Flags in Houston. It had been a while, so going to Cedar Point with the other fellows was real tight. Cedar Point was lit. I’m trying to go again for Commencement because it’s free for the seniors.

Brian: What advice would you give an Oberlin student interested in applying for MMUF or OCRF?

Peace: I would say get started early. Make connections, and make an effort to talk to your professors outside of classes just so they can get to know your face and you can learn about the research they are doing. From my experience, a lot of professors are happy to have help from students. Especially when it comes to their research. So make sure you talk to professors. If you are interested in the research that they are doing and you want to ask them, they know your face from talking to you outside of class. Nine times out of ten, they are pretty happy to let you tag along and learn what they are doing. Eventually if you end up applying to OCRF, people have already gone through that learning curve of being self-motivated, doing their own research, and things like that. I would say talk to your professors outside of class.

Brian: Any closing remarks?

Peace: Stay in school. Talk to your professors. Don’t be afraid to go to office hours. Talk to people. A lot of people don’t make the effort to talk to others like faculty or staff. Like the ladies in DeCafe are real nice, but no one talks to them; they just walk past them. So talk to people.

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ANNUAL SENIOR SYMPOSIUM

CELEBRATE THE ACADEMIC AND ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE OBERLIN COLLEGE & CONSERVATORY CLASS OF 2017.

Friday, April 28, 2017

​Student​ Presentations King Building, ​​Thi​rd Floor

Concurrent ses​s​ions of student oral presentations will take place from 1:30-2:50pm, 3:00-4:20pm, and 4:30-5:50pm​, featuring seniors​...​

Abigail Carlstad, Al Nadeau-Rifkind, Alejandro Vera, Alex Wilder, Alexandra Nicome, Alice Blakely, Aliyah Abu-Hazeem, Andres Cuervo, Anthony Moaton, Brendan Nuse, Christiana Rose, Christiana Rose, Daniel West, Elana Bell, Eleanor H. Van Buren, Elisa Casado Henderson, Elizabeth Levinson, Emily Curley, Emma Snape, Gabrielle Kaufman, Grover Neville, Hunter Zepeda, Ian Gilchrist, Isaac Pearl, Jackie Milestone, Jacob Roosa, Jacob Turner, Jeeva Muhil, Jordan Ecker, Juan Omar Rodriguez, Julian Cranberg, Julian Geltman, Kai Shinbrough, Kaia Diringer, Khalid Taylor, Kirk Pearson, Kristin McFadden, Lauren Rhodes, Leah Awkward-Rich, Liam McMillin, Lillian Posner, Lily Johnson, Liv Scott, Lucas Brown, Maddie Batzli, Maggie Gossiaux, Marie Lilly, Mattea Scheiber Koon, Maurice Cohn, Maxwell Butler, Melissa Cabat, Natalia Shevin, Natalie Hartog, Natalie Ventura Villasana, Naviya Schuster-Little, Nick Rowan Bassman, Noah Last, Noah Margulis, Perry Maybrown, Rachel Leader, Rachel Sacks, Sam Goree, Samuel Mellman, Sarah Chatta, Scott Russell, Sean Lambert, Serena Creary, Shelby Raynor, Sophie Pierson, Taylorlyn Stephan, Tory Sparks, Vikram Shankar, Walker Griggs, Xavier Tirado, Zach Moo Young, ​and ​Zoe Ginsberg​.

See here for the full schedule of presentations.​​

Reception King Third Floor Lounge 5:50 - 6:15pm

Closing Keynote​ Address​ King 306 6:15 - 7:00pm

Whipped Cream, Whiskey, and Weight Loss: Exploring the Versatility of E-cigarette Use in Adolescents and Adults

Meghan Morean, Ph.D. and Alexa L’Insalata ‘17

All events are free and open to the public and take place on the third floor of the King Building, 10 North Professor Street, Oberlin, Ohio.

Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research

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Senior Symposium publicity posters are in, and they look great!!!!

Only a week away!

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Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow Profile: Aliyah Abu-Hazeem ‘17

Interview with Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow (MMUF) Aliyah Abu-Hazeem in March, 2017. Interview by Brian Smith, OUR Student Assistant. Photo by Afia Ofori-Mensa, Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Research at Oberlin College.

Brian: Could you tell me your name, year, major, and faculty mentor?

Aliyah: Aliyah Abu-Hazeem, Class of 2017, Law & Society/Sociology double major, Africana Studies/Politics double minor. Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department, Daphne John, is my MMUF faculty mentor.

Brian: What did your research consist of?

Aliyah: Broadly, my research project examines causal factors for gun violence and crime in urban, impoverished, communities of color, using the Southside of Chicago as my case study. My project began with examining and isolating the social structures and institutions behind the perpetuation of gun violence and crime. Now, my research project focuses specifically on the actors behind the proliferation of gun violence as a means to privilege and give nuance to their rationales for engaging in illicit behaviors, which has not been a focus of the exploitative stories in the media coverage on issues of gun violence in Chicago. In an attempt to make sense of why Chicago has substantial rates of gun violence, compared to other similar urban locales, it is critical to examine what individuals are using gun violence in response to - what lack of access to resources or frustration with the current criminal justice system leads them to believe that gun violence is their only means to gaining support and/or visibility.

Brian: What do you find to be most meaningful about your research?

Aliyah: One of the most meaningful rewards to engaging in my research project is knowing that it has the ability to change lives positively. I firmly believe that my research project can contribute to substantive changes in contemporary, lax gun laws and social welfare policies that do more harm than help within marginalized, impoverished communities. Moreover, I am thrilled to be in a position that allows me to give voice to groups that continue to be relegated to the margins and really dismantle society’s preconceived, derogatory notions about the worth and value of Black men.

Brian: What do you hope to gain from conducting your research?

Aliyah: I hope that my research will contribute to the expansion of discourse in and out of academia such that Black men become more than a stigma and second-class participant in civil society. Time and time again, we see Black men suffering from neo-slavery (mass incarceration) and unable to provide a sustainable livelihood for themselves or their families. In turn, gun violence becomes the only viable option for them to gain access to resources. I want my research project to dismantle the notion that Black men are innately deviant and predisposed to committing crime and illicit behaviors. Instead, I want to move the discourse within scholarship to trying to understand why the enactment of gun violence becomes a social reality for Black men disproportionately than any other demographic.

Brian: Will you continue your research beyond undergraduate education?

Aliyah: Yes, I intend to enter into a PhD program in Sociology in the Fall of 2017 to continue pursuing my current research project as well as seek out avenues for its expansion. Moreover, I have had the opportunity to present my research in various high schools in Chicago, including my alma mater, as well as presented my research to broader academic communities via conferences and the Celebration of Undergraduate Research.

Brian: What is it like to do research at Oberlin over the summer?

Aliyah: Personally, it was quite challenging conducting my research project in Oberlin for the first summer of the MMUF program. Back home in Chicago, gun violence had peaked and reach a record high since 2010. I felt displaced from my community and that I was not able to be doing meaningful work at home. However, I do feel like the summer nurtured my understanding of the extant literature on urban violence and inequity and really provided me with a focused lens and entry point to ongoing discussions not only in the sociological field, but in contemporary political debates and policy as well.

Brian: What are your future goals at this point?

Aliyah: At this point, I intend to enter a PhD program in sociology, probably at Notre Dame. In addition, I intend to work on efforts to improve and expand crime intervention/social welfare services on the Southside of Chicago, making them accessible to the people who need to utilize their services the most.

Brian: What are some other activities, interests or hobbies that you pursue?

Aliyah: I appreciate any opportunity to write and express my feelings, dreams, fear, and motivations via prose, specifically poetry and stream-of-consciousness. In addition, I love music and dancing as well as spending time with my loved ones. I deeply enjoy making others laugh and feel good, too.

Brian: What has been your favorite moment of your time in MMUF?

Aliyah: One of my favorite moments during MMUF was presenting my research project and preliminary findings at our annual conference. This past semester (Fall 2016), we went to Washington University in St. Louis. It was an absolutely amazing opportunity to represent Chicago in a positive way as well as be close to Ferguson and hear about social justice activism and its intersections with scholarship from current Wash U students. It was an experience that affirmed the validity and importance of my research. Although I did not need this external validation, I was still appreciative to feel that people valued the narrative I was offering and wanted to learn more about what is really going on within my community and others like it.  

Brian: What advice would you give an Oberlin student interested in applying for MMUF or OCRF?

Aliyah: I would definitely encourage future MMUF/OCRF applicants to propose a research project that they’re passionate about and that is resonant to them, but one that can also lead to wide-scale social change. Indeed, it is important to be able to contribute your findings to the field and expand discourse within academia; however, it is crucial to also love the work you’re doing and to feel connected to the outcome that your project can have on certain communities and even the world. That is the work of transformative scholarship, producing knowledge comes with the territory.

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Oberlin College Psychology Department Presents Charles S. Grob, M.D., OC ’72 Friday, April 7th 12:00 p.m., Severance 108 “The Use of a Hallucinogen Treatment Model for Advanced Cancer Anxiety” This talk will examine the clinical rationale and prior research record for the judicious use of the hallucinogen treatment model in patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety. The ethnobotanical, anthropological and historical context for the use of psilocybin in clinical psychiatric research will be reviewed as will the range of recent research efforts designed to explore the clinical treatment potential of psilocybin. The methodology, results and implications of the first approved research study in several decades designed to explore the clinical utility of hallucinogens in patients with advanced-cancer anxiety will be presented. Charles S. Grob, M.D. is Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Grob conducted the first government approved psychobiological research study of MDMA, and was the principal investigator of an international research project in the Brazilian Amazon studying the visionary plant brew, ayahuasca. He has also completed and published the first approved research investigation in several decades on the safety and efficacy of psilocybin treatment in terminal cancer patients with anxiety. And he has recently completed a pilot investigation into the use of an MDMA treatment model for social anxiety in autistic adults. Dr. Grob is the editor of Hallucinogens: A Reader (Tarcher/Putnam, 2002) and co-editor (with Roger Walsh) of Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics (SUNY Press, 2005). He is also a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute. This event is co-sponsored by the Neuroscience Department, the Biology Department, and the Alumni Association

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Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Seminar Series:

Toby L. Nelson Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry, Oklahoma State University Redefining Melanin starting with Eumelanin-inspired materials Thursday, March 16, 2017 4:45PM Science Center, W201 Reception to be held at 4:30 PM in the Anderson Lounge (behind Craig Auditorium)

Sponsored by the Luke E. Steiner Lecture Fund