Kajsa Vlasic’s first experience with research was what most people would expect — boring.
A senior in English, Vlasic originally tried research at the Moran Eye Center but quickly realized sitting in a lab all day was not for her.
“I hated it,” she said. “I understand all this research is fundamental to understanding bodies and progressing medicine, and that’s really great. But that’s not who I am.”
However, once Vlasic found a research opportunity that genuinely interested her, her idea changed. Vlasic blended her interests of English and medicine, and she currently tells the stories of women with breast cancer.
Vlasic said with about 900 professors on campus leading different projects, it wasn’t hard to find a program she liked. Since the U is one of the state’s largest research universities, recent development and increased funding have helped the program grow.
Tom Parks, the vice president for research at the U, said part of that growth is within undergraduate advancement. Rachel Hayes-Harb, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, said there has been a steady rise in students who take part in undergraduate research each year.
“The U is making an increasing commitment to the quality of our undergraduate education,” she said. “[It’s] absolutely essential to these kinds of improvements.”
The U currently receives about $400 million each year for research from the federal government and other agencies, Parks said. Hayes-Harb said the number of students involved in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program has nearly doubled from 300 in 2011 to 574 this year. This is due to increased funding from the legislature and more awareness of these programs for faculty and students. However, those numbers do not include all undergraduate research on campus.
Julia Carleton, a graduate research assistant at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, sees a great emphasis placed on research but also believes there is room for improvement.
“It’s really hard in the classroom setting to get that hands-on experience that you need to move a project forward,” she said. “That comes from being in the lab and having to do, find out and solve problems that you’re not going to be faced with in the classroom.”
Hayes-Harb said she sees no difference between the research developing cures for diseases and understanding different literature analysis.
“We are in a constantly changing world,” she said. “To move forward and progress, you have to keep pushing the envelope.”
@carolyn_webber