Hope College holds more grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program than any other liberal arts college in the country.
Hope College holds more grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program than any other liberal arts college in the country.
Hope holds a total of five of the awards for the
forthcoming summer: in biology, chemistry, computer
science, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is
the eighth consecutive year that at least four Hope
departments have had NSF-REU support.
Nationwide, only six other institutions, all of
which are universities, hold as many of the grants as Hope,
and only two universities hold more. Other than Hope, the
only recipients of three or more of the grants are
universities or research institutions.
More than 200 institutions, including not only
colleges and universities but also museums and independent
research organizations, hold NSF-REU grants this year.
Through Hope's grants, undergraduate students from
both Hope and elsewhere will conduct research on a full-time
basis with Hope faculty members for eight to 10 weeks this
summer, and will receive stipends as well as support for
housing, travel and other expenses. They will join students
whose summer research at Hope is supported in other ways.
The department of biology's grant is supporting 10
students working with seven faculty members for 10 weeks.
Some of the projects include water regulation in animals,
the effect of hybridization on species definition in plants,
and habitat competition among Eastern bluebirds, tree
swallows and house wrens locally. The three-year, $156,000
grant is being administered by Dr. Christopher Barney, who
is professor of biology and chair of the department, and Dr.
Virginia McDonough, who is an assistant professor of
biology.
The department of chemistry's grant is supporting
eight students working among 11 faculty for up to 10 weeks.
The research projects include PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray
Emission) analysis of environmental samples, synthesis of
polymers and studies of atmospheric compounds. The three-
year, $114,900 grant is being administered by Dr. Stephen
Taylor, professor of chemistry, and Dr. William S. Mungall,
who is the Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry.
The department of computer science's grant is
supporting eight students working with three faculty for 10
weeks. The five projects include "Supporting Classroom
Interaction Using Handheld Computers," "Algorithm
Visualization on the Web," "Program Execution Animation and
Visualization," and "Learning Algorithms Applied to Game
Playing." The three-year, $146,700 grant is being
administered by Dr. Herbert Dershem, professor of computer
science and chair of the department.
The department of mathematics's grant is
supporting six students working with two faculty members for
eight weeks. The projects include "Calculating expected
areas of randomly generated regions" and "Analyzing when
computer generated orbits of dynamical systems are
infinitely close to true orbits." The four-year, $120,000
grant is being administered by Dr. Timothy Pennings,
associate professor of mathematics and chair of the
department.
The department of physics and engineering's grant
is supporting eight students working with seven faculty for
10 weeks. The seven projects include "Biomechanical Studies
of Balance Recovery in the Elderly," "Nuclear Reaction
Studies with Radioactive Particle Beams," "Development of
Laboratory Projects for Non-Engineers" and "Enhancing
Commercial Aircraft Survivability." The two-year, $90,251
grant is being administered by Dr. Peter Jolivette,
professor of physics.