Research

Undergraduates invited to participate in virtual research workshops

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Office for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring and University Libraries are offering virtual workshops during Summer Session II to help undergraduates understand and explore the world of research at Penn State. Students from all academic disciplines and campuses are encouraged to attend.

Students are able to choose workshops from two different tracks: introductory and advanced. Each session is scheduled to last one hour. The first introductory workshop is slated for July 8, and the first advanced session is scheduled for July 9. Links and more information can be found on the Undergraduate Research website. There is no cost to attend.

For students who might be curious about undergraduate research and the opportunities available to them, the introductory workshop series will expose them to topics vital to conducting research, such as joining the scholarly conversation, quantitative and qualitative research, and data management.

The advanced workshops are great for students looking to become better researchers and a good fit for those whose research was delayed or canceled this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We hope that these series not only provides students with new knowledge, skills and self confidence that they can apply when participating in undergraduate research, but we also hope that students think of our offices moving forward when looking for support,” said Caitlin Ting, director of the Office for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring.

The workshops offered by the University Libraries feature colleagues from Library Learning Services, Research Informatics and Publishing and the STEM Department.

A full schedule of events is listed below and all workshops are expected to last one hour. Clicking on the workshop name will bring up a Zoom registration form.

Introductory Workshops

Research and You, 2 p.m. July 8

How to Join the Scholarly Conversation, 2 p.m. July 15

How to Find Research Opportunities and Mentors, 2 p.m. July 22

Introduction to Experimental Design and Basic Statistics, 2 p.m. July 29

Introduction to Quantitative Research, 2 p.m. Aug. 5

Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3 p.m. Aug. 5

Introduction to Data Management, 2 p.m. Aug. 12

Advanced Workshops

Working Remotely with Geospatial Data and Mapping Projects, 2 p.m. July 9

Citation Management Using Mendeley and Zotero, 2 p.m. July 16

Introduction to Systematic Reviews, 3 p.m. July 16

Statistical Software Choices, 2 p.m. July 23

How to Find and Evaluate Data for Re-use, 2 p.m. July 30

How to Wrangle Data Using R, 2 p.m. Aug. 6

Introduction to Meta-analyses, 2 p.m. Aug. 13

The Office for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring (formerly the University Fellowships Office and Office of Undergraduate Research) is part of the Penn State Office of Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.

Last Updated June 30, 2020