The Life Sciences Freshman Research (LSFRS) Program (2014-2020) was part of an effort to involve students in authentic research during their introductory science experiences. It was supported in part by a grant to Oklahoma State University from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Science Education Program. Students accepted into this program participated in authentic research under the guidance of a faculty mentor, and presented their findings at an annual symposium. Their findings were also published in collected reports that are available for public view here and here.
Over the course of six years, over 150 students have successfully completed the program, 70 of which were Integrative Biology majors. Many of these students continued or are continuing their research as Wentz, Niblack, Cambridge, and/or graduate scholars and have even been published in scientific journals as undergraduates!
In addition to LSFRS, the OSU-HHMI has initiatives to continue providing authentic research experiences in the classroom such as digital journals and novel DNA barcoding projects. For more information, please visit their website at: http://osu-hhmi.okstate.edu .
If you are interested or have any questions about OSU-HHMI and its initiatives, please contact Dr. Donald French.
In addition, OSU continues to offer freshmen the experience of conducting authentic research and students are encouraged to contact the Office of Scholar Development here. Other worthwhile research programs for undergraduates are: