On November 12, undergraduate researchers, mentors, and organizational partners took over the Twitter account of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) in its first virtual UR Exchange, highlighting many inspirational stories of faculty-student research conducted during the challenges of the COVID-19 environment.
These tweets yielded 18,500 impressions, more than 100 mentions (including from a news outlet and a blog), more than 130 likes, 72 new followers, 22 retweets, and numerous tweets from colleague organizations such as the American Historical Association (AHA) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Stories ranged from the artificial intelligence research of Ziqi Wang (Georgia Southern University) that has implications for the COVID-19 pandemic and the research of Harnoor Kaur (Michigan State University) on transgender homicide to research by Annamae Harmon (Indiana University Southeast) on the power of women through painting and a student-faculty team from UNC Greensboro that used game theory to show how Ebola could be eradicated. These accounts and more can be viewed on Twitter via the hashtag #URExchange.
“We were delighted by the enthusiasm of our UR Exchange participants,” said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer. “Amid a disruptive time for campuses, the resilience, creativity, and hard work in these accounts of undergraduate research students and mentors provide ample evidence of the transformative power of undergraduate research.”
In addition to UR Exchange, CUR provides ongoing opportunities to highlight undergraduate research initiatives such as its series of undergraduate research stories that appears on the front page of its website, member institution videos on its YouTube channel, articles in its academic journal Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR), and participation in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). To submit an undergraduate research story or provide news of an undergraduate research-related video, contact Elizabeth Moris. For more information on SPUR, visit the journal webpage. For further details on NCUR, visit the NCUR webpage.
Founded in 1978, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) focuses on providing high-quality and collaborative undergraduate research, scholarly, and creative activity. Among the many activities and networking opportunities that CUR provides, the organization also offers support for the professional growth of faculty and administrators through expert-designed institutes, conferences, and a wide-range of volunteer positions. The CUR community, made up of nearly 700 institutions and 13,000 individuals, continues to provide a platform for discussion and other resources related to mentoring, connecting, and creating relationships centered around undergraduate research. CUR’s advocacy efforts are also a large portion of its work as they strive to strengthen support for undergraduate research. Its continued growth in connections with representatives, private foundations, government agencies, and campuses world-wide provides value to its members and gives voice to undergraduate research. CUR is committed to inclusivity and diversity in all of its activities and our community.
CUR focuses on giving a voice to undergraduate research with learning through doing. It provides connections to a multitude of campuses and government agencies, all while promoting networking and professional growth to its community.