Lindsey Perry pointed to the Web site that showed how to apply for Ohio State’s Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.
“I’m like right here,” the senior said Wednesday, smiling and tapping a fingernail at the top of the screen.
She was pointing to the second item on the list of 13 things to remember – this one was to turn in her research abstract by April 2. Hours later, an e-mail from Allison Snow, director of the OSU Undergraduate Research Office, revealed the deadline for research abstracts had been extended to April 5.
The Denman Forum has been held every spring since 1996 and will be held this year on May 16. Despite being more than six weeks away, undergraduates wishing to present their research must turn in a 250 to 500 word abstract describing the purpose of their research, their research method, their findings and the implications of what they have found, according to the Undergraduate Research Office Web site.
“I’m about 130 words in,” Perry said, turning toward a short blurb appearing in a Word document. Perry’s job might be a little easier than others’ – she has presented this research before and only needs to do a little bit more research to be able to present her findings on “GLAST,” which stands for the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope.
“The main focus of GLAST is to look at gamma-ray bursts,” Perry said. “By looking at them we can better understand black holes, dark matter and neutron stars.” Perry said figuring out why gamma-rays, the highest energy source in the universe, exist might not have an immediate impact on everyday life, but is something scientists are eager to learn.
She pointed to a large, glossy poster on the wall in her lab in the Physics Research Building and said she started working on her research project in January 2006, finishing a year later in December.
“This is most of the stuff I did last summer, because last summer I was working full time, for like three months, so I got a lot of stuff done,” she said.
Perry, who will be a fifth-year senior in physics next year, first became interested in astronomy as a junior in high school and then found physics at OSU to be rewarding. She then began working in the Undergraduate Research Office, an office that is a sort of clearinghouse for information about undergraduate research and also a center for consultation on funding sources and how and where to find a research adviser.
“They’re really helpful,” she said. “They’re really serious about it and they really want people to get involved in research.”
Snow said the office had received 60 abstracts as of noon on March 28, but added, “most abstracts are submitted at the last minute, right before the deadline. It is too early to know if we will have more than last year, when the total was 354.”
“Many research projects take a year or longer to complete, so the effects of establishing our campus-wide office in early 2006 on subsequent forum presentations may not be immediate. We expect to see significant increases in the numbers of students presenting at the Denman Forum and various college-level forums by 2008, if not this year as well.”
More information can be found at denman.osu.edu.
Tim Hoffine can be reached at [email protected].
