UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement

Udall Scholarship Nominees Needed

Faculty members are requested to nominate students for the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, available to current sophomore or junior students who meet one or more of these criteria:

  • Students who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to the environment;
  • Native American and Alaska Native students who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to public policy;
  • Native American and Alaska Native students who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to Native American health care.

Nominations are due by Friday, December 1. To submit a nomination or for more information contact the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement at scholars@up.edu.

Goldwater Scholarship Nominees Needed

Faculty are requested to nominate students for Goldwater Scholarships. The awards, up to $7,500 per year, provide scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students who plan to pursue research careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The awards are based on merit and made to students who will be juniors or seniors during the 2018-2019 academic year. Experience in research is an important criterion in the evaluation process. There will be a pre-application process to determine nominees with a deadline of November 27, 2017.

Nominations are due as soon as possible. To submit a nomination or for more information contact the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement at scholars@up.edu.

Summer Research Poster Session: November 1

Students from across campus will be presenting posters documenting the research they completed both at UP and at other institutions across the nation this summer. Students will be sharing their results from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, November 1, in both the Franz Hall Lobby and Franz Hall 120.

Please come show your support of our students and their work. This summer research poster session is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. For more information, please contact ur@up.edu or x7857.

Scholarly Activity Portal Always Ready For Faculty Input

The Scholarly Activity Portal is always ready for faculty input on PilotsUP under the “Academics” tab. Faculty members are encouraged to update their scholarly activity as it occurs; the portal offers a one-stop opportunity to update recent activity.

Faculty members will download the report for their school and send the PDF copy of the report to their respective deans as a part of the annual self-evaluation, and they can also use the data entered to develop their personal curriculum vitae. The data obtained via the portal are also used to populate A Community of Scholars, published annually by the Provost’s office, and for the Clark Library’s annual celebration of UP authors.

For any questions about uses of the portal, please contact John Orr (orr@up.edu); for questions about how to use the tool, please contact Michele Leasor (leasor@up.edu).

Council on Undergraduate Research Membership Benefits

The University of Portland is an enhanced institutional member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). All members of the campus community are eligible to become members of CUR at no cost to the individual because of UP’s enhanced institutional membership. Member benefits include reduced rates for upcoming conferences and workshops, access to CUR Quarterly magazine, bi-weekly newsletters, and access to member grants, as well as other benefits.

CUR offers events for both students and faculty members. 2017-18 events are listed here.

Student wishing to present at the 32nd Annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (April 4-7, 2018) must submit their abstract by Tuesday, December 5 via their NCUR account. Abstract submissions guidelines can be found here.

For more information, contact the Undergraduate Research Program in the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, ur@up.edu or x7857.

Senior Applications for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The National Science Foundation made a significant change to their eligibility guidelines for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program in 2016. Graduate students can apply only once for the grant, as opposed to twice in the past.  The end result is that seniors going to graduate school and planning careers in research should be strongly encouraged to apply.  They will be more competitive than in the past, and the senior year will be the only time that they get the practice of completing the application along with feedback from reviewers on the application.

Please encourage your bright and high-achieving students who are going into a field funded by NSF to consider applying. The deadline for Geosciences and Life Sciences is October 24, 2017.

Even though the NSF does not require a University of Portland endorsement, the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement is more than willing to work with students in the preparation of an application. For more information about the program, visit this link. Contact scholars@up.edu if you have any questions.

Summer Research Poster Session: Students Must Apply By Oct. 3

All faculty are requested to encourage their students who had on- or off-campus research experiences this past summer to apply to participate the fourth annual Summer Research Poster Session by Tuesday, October 3. The application is available at this link. One application is needed per poster being presented, and the student presenter should complete the application.

The Summer Research Poster Session will occur on Wednesday, November 1, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Franz Hall lobby and Franz Hall 120. All are encouraged to come see the amazing research opportunities many of our students had this past summer, both at UP and all across the nation and world. Students will be presenting posters of their work and will be available to answer questions about their research.

For more information contact John Orr at orr@up.edu. The Summer Research Poster Session is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement.

Off-Campus Undergraduate Research Request

All faculty members who wrote a letter of recommendation for a student to pursue off-campus research this past summer are requested to please send the student’s name to ur@up.edu. As the University prepares for its next accreditation visit, there is a need for better data on student participation in undergraduate research.

The University has made great strides in tracking on-campus undergraduate research, but the undergraduate scholarly engagement office needs faculty assistance in identifying which students participate in research off-campus. The office will follow up with students for more details about their experience; all they need from faculty are student names.

For more information, contact John Orr (orr@up.edu) in the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement.

Rhodes and Marshall Scholarship Candidates Wanted

Faculty members are encouraged to send the names of academically and experientially exceptional, ambitious rising seniors who would benefit from attending graduate school at Cambridge, Oxford, or one of the other premier UK institutions, to the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement, according to John Orr, assistant to the provost.

Students applying for these awards must have a University endorsement and formally express their intent to apply by early April. Students will be contacted and given assistance in starting the application process, will participate in campus interviews in late April, and will continue to receive support over the summer so their files can be finalized at the start of the fall semester.

For more information or to pass along names, send an e-mail to scholars@up.edu or call 7857.

For more information use these links:

Summer Research Poster Session: November 2

founders day girl copyStudents from all academic disciplines will be presenting posters documenting the research they completed both at UP and at other institutions across the nation this summer. Students will be sharing their results from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2 in both the Franz Hall Lobby and in Shiley Hall’s 3rd Floor Atrium. Please come show your support of our students and their work. This summer research celebration is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. For more more information, please contact Michele Leasor at ur@up.edu or x7857.