APPLETON, WIS. — Lawrence University has been named one of 15 national winners of a $60,000 Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program grant. The program is sponsored by the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The grants were announced during the AAAS’s annual meeting (Feb. 15-19) in San Francisco.
The grant, paid out over a three-year period, will support student-faculty research focused on collaborations between biology and chemistry. It is the second time in five years (2002) that Lawrence has been recognized with a USRP award.
“The intersection of biology and chemistry is one of the most vital areas of science education,” said David Burrows, Lawrence provost and dean of the faculty. “It is critical that we continue to provide high quality educational and collaborative research opportunities in this area for our students or risk falling behind the curve. Support from the Merck/AAAS program has been an integral component in helping Lawrence provide these kind of opportunities and fostering a productive interdisciplinary environment.”
Launched in 2000 as a national competition, the goal of the program is to advance undergraduate research training and enhance education through research experiences that emphasize the interrelationship between chemistry and biology sciences.
The 10-year, $9 million initiative is funded by MISE, a private foundation established in 1993 to improve science education and is administered by AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.
Joining Lawrence as 2007 USRP recipients were Augustana College, Calvin College, Davidson College, Pomona College, Rhodes College, St. Lawrence University, The College of New Jersey, Truman State University, University of Dayton, University of Evansville, University of Richmond, University of St. Thomas, UW-Oshkosh and Wellesley College.
