About URN

Statement of Purpose

The Undergraduate Research Network (URN) was formed in 2001 to foster an undergraduate research community here at UVA. Now in its 6th year of existence, URN continues to promote undergraduate research. In particular, URN hopes to:

1. Encourage students to initiate research projects.
2. Present information about current research opportunities.
3. Increase the visibility of undergraduate research at UVA.
4. Offer guidance and mentorship to students interested in research.
5. Publicize funding opportunities and research-related events.
6. Increase undergraduate access to UVA's resources.
7. Provide a forum for students to showcase the results of their research and reflect upon their experience.

The Undergraduate Research Network always welcomes new members! Students from all schools, majors, and years are welcome!

Undergraduate Research Mailing List

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Executive Committee

The Executive Board of URN is made up of the Chair of the Undergraduate Research Network and six other committee chairs: the Editor of the Oculus, the Membership Chair, the Outreach Chair, the Symposium Chair, the Technology Chair, and the Workshops Chair. Please direct your questions to the Chair or to one of the committee chairs.

Chair: Aaron McCrady, acm3w@virginia.edu

The Chair of the Undergraduate Research Network presides over all URN meetings and serves as the head of the Executive Committee. The Chair is also responsible for plotting the overall course of URN, working closely with the Center for Undergraduate Excellence, and coordinating teams of URNies for specific projects.

Oculus Co-Editors: Monica Kasbekar, muk4a@virginia.edu and Elizabeth Bendycki, eab8d@virginia.edu

The Oculus is the Virginia Journal of Undergraduate Research, a themed and interdisciplinary collection of student research produced by URN. The Oculus committee is responsible for gathering all the projects submitted by students, choosing which submissions get published, formatting the text and photographs, publicizing Oculus events and dealines, and recruiting Oculus Staffers (a.k.a. Oculites).

Outreach Chair: Johanna Kreafle, jek8j@virginia.edu

The Outreach Committee extends the objectives and programs of the Undergraduate Research Network to all respective schools and disciplines. This committee works to make students aware of URN and everything it does by advertising, sponsoring social events and activities, and facilitating interactions with other clubs on Grounds. A major responsibility of the Outreach Committee is helping the other committees publicize their events. In addition, it is in the process of obtaining an accurate picture of the current state of research at the University so that those partaking in research are accounted for and recognized. The Membership and Outreach Committee is also responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing many of the activities for UVA's annual Research Week. In the past, these activities have included multiple workshops, research at UVA info sessions, and fireside chats with faculty.

Symposium Chair: Catherine (Katie) Schretter, ces7z@virginia.edu

The Symposium Committee is responsible for symposium recruitment, thorough correspondence with each applicant, scheduling, programming, running the symposium trials, making final decisions during the presenter selection process, requesting, editing and finalizing applicant biographies, and coordinating the final symposium.

Technology Chair: Joanne Tu, jt6ek@virginia.edu

A primary responsibility of the Technology Committee is the design, construction, and maintenance of the URN website. Other projects include the creation of searchable databases of professors and students to facilitate finding research opportunities and technical support for symposiums and workshops.

Workshops Chair: Rob Smithson, rhs2z@virginia.edu

The Workshops Committee is in charge of creating and organizing workshops intended to aid students with different aspects of the research process, such as finding the right research position, obtaining funding for independent research, writing a good research proposal, and creating a scientific manuscript.