Participating in research can be transformative for students. Through a national initiative to support the advancement of underrepresented students in higher education, qualified undergraduate students join with faculty mentors to devise and conduct research. The 2010 McNair Scholars Program Summer Research Colloquium at the University of Nevada, Reno comes to a close Friday after seven weeks of mentor-guided research and intense-study sessions in preparation for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the standardized, graduate-school entrance exam. The 11 students being honored will go on to present their work at the 18th Annual McNair Symposium at the University of California, Berkeley, Aug. 5-8.
WHO: Eleven McNair Scholars, including neuroscience major Megan Tillman, who will present her research project, “The efficiency of using color to improve memorization”; McNair Scholars’ families; and University research mentors
WHAT: Research Presentation and Closing Ceremony Luncheon for the Seventh Annual McNair Summer Research Colloquium
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., Friday, July 23
WHERE: University of Nevada, Reno, Morrill Hall, Clark Room, Second Floor. Media is encouraged to park in the metered spaces south of Morrill Hall.
BACKGROUND: The Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program was created by Congress to increase the number of underrepresented persons pursuing careers in higher education. Since the program’s introduction to the University of Nevada, Reno in 2003, it has prepared first-generation, low-income and underrepresented Nevada undergraduates for doctoral study.
All seven of the program’s cohort from last summer graduated and were accepted into various graduate programs in schools such as Columbia University, UC Davis, Penn State and University of Alabama. All are enrolled to begin instruction this fall and, combined, earned nearly $170,000 in funding awards including stipends, grants and scholarships.
For more information about the McNair Scholars Program, photos of the scholars and abstracts of their research projects, visit www.unr.edu/mcnair.
