Undergraduate Resources
Resources
As the research university in the southern part of Illinois, SIU is a leader in providing top undergraduate STEM education. Our students and faculty engage in research projects that ignite the intellect and invigorate the learning process. SIU provides undergraduate students the best preparation needed for Graduate School or for their chosen profession.
Would you like to volunteer at the STEM Center? Please contact us @ stem@siu.edu
Campus Programs
Enrichment and Research Opportunities
SIU offers exciting opportunities for undergraduate students willing to go beyond their academic course work, from participation in university honors programs, to mentoring and grant-funded research opportunities, to scholarships and fellowships, and graduate assistantships. Listed below is a summary of undergraduate enrichment and research opportunities with links to the programs’ websites.
Creative and Scholarly Saluki Rookies (CSSR)
Provides funds on a competitive basis for high-achieving freshmen interested in conducting research and learning more about their intended major. Working with a faculty mentor, students plan a research project in fall semester to be carried out the following spring.
View the OSPA website for more information.
Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ILSAMP)
The ILSAMP program is aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of underrepresented students successfully completing baccalaureate degrees in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) disciplines. Eligible SIU undergraduates are invited to apply for support through the ILSAMP program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Funds may be provided on a competitive basis for students to conduct research and attend professional meetings.
The ILSAMP program also sponsors professional enrichment activities throughout the academic year. Applications are accepted each semester.
Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP)
MEDPREP is a two-year post-baccalaureate program for socio-economically or educationally disadvantaged students at SIU. It provides an environment in which students can hone their test-taking skills and enhance their academic record with the goal of matriculating in a Medical or Dental School. If you are interested in applying to MEDPREP, please visit the MEDPREP website to determine if the program is right for you.
McNair Scholars
The SIU Carbondale McNair Scholars Program helps students realize their full potential by providing enriching educational experiences for low-income, first-generation college students and members of undeserved groups in higher education. Beginning with a strong mentoring network, McNair scholars are fully supported and engaged in educational and professional development activities that lay the foundation for stellar research and academic skills.
Our McNair Scholars Program promotes academic excellence, success in graduate school, and the achievement of a PhD – confirming there is no such thing as too much ambition when it comes to educational goals.
For more information about the benefits, responsibilities, and application process, please visit the McNair Scholars website.
Research Enriched Academic Challenge (REACH)
The REACH (Research Enriched Academic Challenge) Awards give full-time undergraduate students at SIU the opportunity gain real-world experience in their research/creative field of interest. The awards are granted based on the evaluation of the applications by a panel composed of experts from a broad range of academic backgrounds.
If selected, students can receive up to $2,000 and an assistantship that will pay for the student to work up to 10 hours per week on their project. Teams can receive an additional $500 per additional team member.
To be eligible students must be a Sophomore or higher with a GPA of at least 2.8.
For more information about program eligibility, deadlines and guidelines, please visit the REACH website.
Saluki Scholars
The Office of Major Scholarship Advisement (OMSA) provides information, advice, and support for SIU honor students interested in pursuing major nationally competitive major scholarships and fellowships. OMSA scholarships typically require a minimum overall grade point average of 3.75 or higher. To become a major scholarship candidate students must complete a preliminary Honors Program application.
For more information, please go to OMSA.
Undergraduate Assistantships (UGA)
The Undergraduate Assistantship (UGA) Program provides a unique opportunity for students. The program offers on-campus, research and/or creative activity opportunities for SIU undergraduate students. Students selected for an Undergraduate Assistantship are able to work directly with a faculty member or professional level staff member in a project that leads to a poster or oral presentation at the Annual Research and Creative Activity Forum on Campus in April. Students should spend 10-20 hours per week working on the project and are paid approximately $10/hour. Positions are available for the fall and spring semesters. The UGA Program is not usually funded during the summer term.
For more information, please visit the UGAwebsite.
University Honors Program (UHP)
University Honors Program (UHP) is a university-wide undergraduate program intended to reward SIU's best students for their high academic achievements. We value community, diversity, leadership, service, lifelong learning, global awareness and research, and are committed to providing both experience and opportunity to foster those values.
The heart of the UHP is its small classes, unique in character and specially created for UHP students by outstanding UHP faculty to satisfy requirements of the University Core Curriculum as well as in the student's major. We provide a taste of the private college experience at a state university price.
For more information, please visit UHP.Undergraduate Projects
The Student Creative Activities and Research Forum is a celebration in which all students engaged in any type of scholarly activities, research, or creative activities are invited to present a poster sharing their work with the SIU community. After the forum the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Research will speak and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards will be given for the best poster presentations in each category (Undergraduate and Graduate).
Please follow the links below for additional information.
Featured Projects
The Gyroid Project
Rebekah Durig, senior, Mathematics.
Oneal Summers, senior, Mathematics.
The gyroid shape, an infinitely-connected triply periodic minimal surface, was conceived in 1970 by SIU Professor Emeritus Alan Schoen, then a scientist at NASA, in his theoretical search for ultra-light, ultra-strong materials for use in space. For decades materials scientists have been experimenting with the gyroid and now an international team of researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford in Britain, the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, Institute Curie in France and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis has shown that the gyroid structure can be used to self-assemble a low-cost photovoltaic cell. The idea could lead to more economical solar collectors and more efficient fuel cells.
Undergraduate assistants Oneal Summers and Rebekah Durig are using the Mathematica computational engine to produce a model of the gyroid for three dimensional printing. This model will eventually form the basis for a larger sculpture that will be housed in the mathematics library at SIU.
Faculty: Alan Schoen, Professor Emeritus and Gregory Budzban, Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics.
Visualization in Mathematics
Brad Dragun, Freshman, Mathematics.
Rebekah Durig, Senior, Mathematics.
Thomas Finkenkeller, Senior, Physics.
Seth Lawrence, Senior, Physics.
Aaron Zolotor, Senior, Physics.
The research team produces graphical simulations of abstract math concepts using C++ and the Processing open-source programming language. Processing is a graphics based programming environment that is well-suited for a wide range of activities such as making digital art, interactive animations, or educational graphs. This research project involves the visualization of complex mathematical data, specifically the apollonian gasket, a fractal generated from triples of circles where each circle is tangent to the other two. Students are also mapping the harmonic evolution of states of a graph. Using these tools, students are making new observations and discoveries.
Faculty and mentor: Jersey Kocik, Professor, and Ethan Lightfoot, Graduate Masters, Department of Mathematics.
Mathematical Modeling of Effective Sports Performance
Chen Li, Junior, Accounting.
Nicole Staples, Senior, Mathematics.
This project involves using data visualization and statistics to identify a more accurate categorization of players in the game of basketball. Traditionally, players are categorized into five basic positions but this may not be the best way to produce a successful team. Staples and Li want to show that there are several more identifiable positions into which they fall. The two groups they have chosen to analyze are the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams of the NCAA Missouri Valley Conference. Separating the men and women into two different groups, Staples and Li normalized nine basic statistics based on time played. They then found a Euclidean distance between each player using their nine normalized statistics as individual feature vectors. The distances between the players help Staples and Li to identify natural groupings that occur based on statistics alone and not the generally accepted basketball positions. Utilizing a program called X-dimensional Data Analysis Tool, or XDAT, a parallel-coordinates data visualization software package, Staples and Li hope to show statistical and visual evidence of the existence of these unidentified positions.
Faculty: Gregory Budzban, Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics.