Undergraduate Women Discover Many WISE Ways to Research at UC

  

Whitney Howard with Prof Bill Connick researching new materials for chemical sensing.

Women undergraduates at the University of Cincinnati who are considering careers in research were given a paid summer opportunity to work in research laboratories at UC, at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and in such distant places as Boston and Hawaii through the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Research Experiences for Women Undergraduates (REWU) program.

After a summer of working side by side with UC’s faculty and graduate researchers, the WISE women are ready to report their experiences.

This summer, the program has 24 young women working with UC's leading scientists and engineers in biology, chemistry, communication sciences and disorders, nutrition, pediatrics, physics, psychology, biomedical engineering, chemical and materials engineering and mechanical engineering.

Brittany Jones with mentor Manish Kumar working on Swarm robotics research.

The women worked in a variety of scientific and technical labs, as well as in the field and in clinics. They were paired with faculty mentors and received a stipend for their work in the lab. They also receive coaching and instruction in areas beneficial both to their college careers as well as to their professional careers, such as presentation and writing techniques.

Now, they will be making their final presentations discussing the results of their summer of research.

What: Women in Science and Engineering, Research Experiences for Women Undergraduates
When: Sept. 10, 2009, 11:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Where: Room 427 ERC

Amanda Schroeder with her mentor Debra Krummel.

"I hope that many of the University of Cincinnati community will stop in to encourage these young women at the start of their careers," says Professor Urmila Ghia, Chair of the WISE program.