Definition of Research
What exactly is undergraduate research? The Council on Undergraduate Research recently published “Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research: Fostering Excellence and Enhancing the Impact,” by Drs. Jeffrey M. Osborn and Kerry K. Karukstis. According to these authors, four common threads run through every undergraduate research activity on campus:
- Mentorship. A serious, collaborative interaction between the faculty mentor and student, in which the student is intellectually engaged in the scholarly problem or project
- Originality. The student makes a meaningful and authentic contribution to the scholarly problem or project, and the work must be entirely or partially novel
- Acceptability. Employing techniques and methodologies that are appropriate and recognized by the discipline with a problem or project that includes a reflective and synthetic component
- Dissemination. Includes a final tangible product for which both the process and results are peer-reviewed, juried, or judged in a manner consistent with disciplinary standards
Contact Information
Sharon Pound
Office of Undergraduate Research
Blount Hall
1534 White Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996-1529
Phone: (865) 974-1475
Email: spound@utk.edu