Our Getting You into Indiana University (GU2IU) Program, a campus recruitment program for prospective underrepresented and minority students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or M.F.A. at Indiana University (IUB) Bloomington. The three-day event will be conducted on the IUB campus and begins Sunday, April 8, 2018, and ends on Tuesday, April 10, 2018. This is an all-expense paid trip for selected highly qualified applicants including airfare, lodging, and meals. Participants will learn more about IU’s Ph.D. and M.F.A. programs, research opportunities, and funding options. Additionally, participants will meet with faculty, staff and current graduate students, attend sessions on preparing competitive applications for graduate admission, explore campus cultural centers, and take a campus tour.

Our goal is to recruit the best and brightest to IU programs. Our target is 30-35 students to attend our recruitment event for spring 2018. GU2IU program participants must:

• Be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• Be sophomores, juniors, seniors, master’s level students in good academic standing; or, degreed professionals interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or MFA at Indiana University Bloomington.
• Complete a GU2IU spring 2018 application form requesting demographic information, educational interests, non-official transcripts and a personal essay.

The application deadline is February 16, 2018. Preference will be for faculty nominated participants in STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines and the social sciences.

To submit a nomination:

• Applicants, click HERE to apply
• Faculty, click HERE.

For additional information, visit http://graduate.indiana.edu/about/diversity/visit-iu.shtml. Please direct any questions to agep@indiana.edu or (812) 855-6752.

Did you know?
Dr. Nicolas Papanicolaou innovated what we today call the Pap smear (named for him) at his medical practice in Greece, but it was tested and brought into common practice through testing done at Cornell in the 1930s. The Pap test is a method of cervical screening used to detect potentially pre-cancerous and cancerous processes caused by HPV, in the cervix.  The Pap test, when combined with a regular program of screening and appropriate follow-up, can reduce cervical cancer deaths by up to 80%.

Apply for a URA and get up to $1500 to support your research or creative work!
Deadline: Feb. 16
ur.umbc.edu/ura

Ariel Poirier is a Geography and Environmental Studies major, graduating in December, 2018. She is the Treasurer for the GES Council of Majors, and a Newcombe Scholar for Returning Women through the Women’s Center.

Research Topic: Assessing functional traits (define how species interact in their environment and with each other- i.e. water requirements, height, seed dispersal) in plant species varying in low and high diversity communities. There are a total of 36 communities and also monocultures (controls) in both top soil (soil commonly used in gardens, rich and full of nutrients) and fill soil (used in vacant lots, not nutrient rich, contains glass, metal, brick etc).

How did you find the research opportunity? It was offered to me by my advisor, Dr. Christopher Swan, Geography and Environmental Systems, after I expressed having an interest in working with plants.

Do you get course credit for this work? I got research credit and was paid through the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies based out of New York. I have put a great deal of time into my research because I encountered a few setbacks along the way. It has continued through the school year, but I have followed through with my research regardless.

What was the hardest part about your research? Learning the hard way that nature has its own plan and might set things back despite best laid plans!

What was the most unexpected thing? My plants did not grow after the first seeding.

How does this research experience relate to your work in other classes? This REU position gave me a hands-on experience that I could not get in the classroom. Being able to have the chance to apply textbook education to real world experiments was rewarding and continued to build on the knowledge I already had.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? Ask about research opportunities! And ask many professors what they have available.

Photo: I am pictured collecting aboveground biomass for the topsoil monocultures. This involves cutting the species from the soil line and then placing them in the drying oven. After the biomass is dry, it is weighed and recorded. This species is Gypsophila Elegans, commonly known as Baby’s Breath.

Become an undergraduate researcher and get up to $1500 to support your research or creative work! Go to: ur.umbc.edu.ura  Application deadline: Feb. 16.