RU Undergrads Showcase Research in Symposium

On April 20, the Rutgers University Student Center was abuzz with academia as more than 400 Rutgers undergrads discussed their research projects with the public and their peers.

The Undergraduate Research Symposium is put on by the Aresty Research Center at Rutgers, and gives students a chance to present a paper or a poster on the projects they have been working on throughout the semester.

Nearly all disciplines and fields of study were represented at the symposium, according to Matthew Evans, the Center's Director.

Some of the students involved in the symposium were enrolled in formal programs while others were conducting research programs of their own, Evans said.

"The big goal here is for all the students to figure out how to communicate what they do to a bigger audience," Evans said.

Standing next to their posters, students chatted up visitors, professors and fellow students about the goal of their projects in a room that was packed full of people.

"Each year it gets bigger and bigger," Evans said. "These students are beyond impressive to me."

Allysa Marie Go, 20, a student in the School of Arts and Sciences, said that her project on cellular meiosis may aid in researching cures for genetic abnormalities.

Go, of West Orange, is studying genetics, and said that the research she conducted is more "basic," but needed for researchers to build more complex research on to potentially find cures for genetic diseases, such as Down Syndrome.

Nearby, Alexa Varga, 20, also a student in the School of Arts and Sciences, showcased her project on colonial British and American seals of the 17th century.

She and her adviser, Benjamin Justice of the Graduate School of Education, are in the process of gathering graphics of these seals and determining the educational context of each seal.

According to the duo, a full catalog of seals of the British Empire has never been attempted before.

"It's a lot of fun," she said.