Message from the Chancellor

January, 2006

In this issue of Research Frontiers, we are introducing a new feature that focuses on student research. Students, both graduate and undergraduate, benefit from research experiences on our campus. Each summer, many departments win grants from the National Science Foundation to sponsor Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) students to come to campus for the summer. These students primarily attend non research-focused institutions. The program benefits both the students who visit our institution and the departments where they do research. Based on their positive undergraduate research experiences, many of these students return to join our graduate programs.

This year, the University of Arkansas hosted 52 REU students. They participated in projects that ranged from building sensors to detect marine toxins to testing micro-thrusters for spacecraft use. And two REU visitors, John Mischler of Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and Jon McBee, of Wheaton College in Massachusetts, traveled with geosciences professor Glen Mattioli and graduate student Elizabeth Van Boskirk of Yellville, Ark., to the Caribbean, where their experiences included a close-up view of an active volcano.

Many professors integrate undergraduate students into their research programs during the year through SILO-SURF grants designed to allow undergraduate students to initiate and complete research projects. Students may apply for these grants during their sophomore, junior or senior year and must maintain a 3.0 grade point average to be eligible. In the spring of 2003 about 30 students took advantage of this program to conduct research in tandem with professors.

One of them, Joseph Scott, worked with professor Charles Riggs in the College of Education and Health Professions on basic research into metabolic disorders. He has since graduated and will attend the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences this fall. The details of his research and the work of several of his fellow students are told in the pages that follow.

Happy reading,


John A. White
Chancellor