Science
Programs at
Wheaton

Faculty/Student
Research

Science
Off-Campus
Programs

Our Perspective
On Natural
Science

Faculty Student Research Opportunities

Are there opportunities at Wheaton College for students to collaborate with faculty in conducting research?

		"There’s a significant freedom for the mind to explore an area of study and come up with ways to solve the set tasks in a project." Mike Wang Researching with Dr. Rod Scott Associate Professor of Biology

Wheaton College has a rich tradition of offering research opportunities to its students through collaboration with faculty. Some of these studies are conducted during the academic year as independent studies with faculty and some are conducted as summer collaborative research opportunities. The studies can include work at the Wheaton College Science Station in the Black Hills of South Dakota, research in the libraries and labs of Wheaton College on campus, or scholarship in international programs where students can participate in two-thirds world development abroad.

Samples of these exciting projects include exploring the realm of arterial pressure at different levels of exercise tachycardia, biochemistry and genetics, chemistry of membranes, erosion and tectonics, genetics, chemistry of membranes, bedrock in Tanzania and the US, fossils of animals and plants, glass transitions of polyelectrolyte multilayer film using ellipsometry, human risks associated with Raccoon roundworms, invertebrates that are indicators of levels of pollutants in aquatic systems, identification of genes in bacteria and other prokaryotic systems, property rights in African countries, protein – DNA interaction at singular-molecular levels, sequencing genes and studying genetic mechanisms in animals and plants, socioeconomics and politics in urban settings, students educational responses to various pedagogies, and water flow through bedrock near nuclear reactors, to name a few.

Students conducting scholarship with faculty use excellent computers and other equipment like GPS (global positioning systems), gene amplifying equipment, gene sequencers and electrophoresis, lasers, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and other state-of-the-art equipment designed to perform contemporary scientific investigations.

	"Through interaction with my supervisor, I am beginning to gain understanding, not only of my subject matter, but of the academic life." Kimberly Gilsdorf Researching with Dr. Sandra Joireman Associate Professor of Comparative Politics

What is the Wheaton College Summer Research Program for Undergraduates?
The successes of the Summer Research Program for Undergraduates at Wheaton College are immense and serve to bookmark the quality of educational experience we provide for our students at Wheaton College. Wheaton College offers a campus wide faculty/student collaborative research program for its faculty and students. This exciting mentoring program allows for authentic investigation of unanswered questions where students work alongside faculty and explore primary literature, design projects, collect data, reflect on ideas and disseminate their results in professional meetings and refereed journals. There is an enormous value to students associated with conducting scholarship with faculty because students are exposed to the rich experiences of inquiry, peer review and sources for dissemination of results in the appropriate professional literature. The attraction of excellent students to Wheaton College enhances the outcomes of this exciting work based on original discovery!

Do Wheaton graduates compete well among students who enter graduate school and career professions?
The faculty at Wheaton are teacher scholars who supervise these students on the cutting edge of their respective disciplines. They enthusiastically lead the students into the realm of new and exciting academic explorations. Training students through conducting collaborative research teaches students who will be professional citizens of the intellectual circles in their disciplines and, as Christians, to serve in a global context. In science alone, Wheaton continues to train student who follow in the footsteps of giants among our alumni whose records have established our superiority in education nationally and internationally. For instance, in the recent National Science Foundation ranking of graduates from among baccalaureate colleges, Wheaton is ranked among the top 25 schools in the nation for its contribution of psychologists and natural scientists to the pool of experimental scientists whose baccalaureate origins were within the liberal arts colleges.

	"Summer Research allows you to work closely with professors in a way that is generally not possible in a classroom. Their guidance and support throughout exploration is what makes research valuable." Liz Kafkas "Two years ago I only read about cDNA libraries and cloning DNA in textbooks…now I’m using techniques and doing it everyday!" Sung Heun Yoo Researching with Dr. Greta Bryson Assistant Professor of Chemistry

How does Wheaton fund its faculty student research programming?
Our stimulating program in faculty/student research requires excellent access to literature, equipment, and often specialized and efficient use of space. Funding for such research for students and faculty is expensive and we rely upon the contributions of individuals, foundations, other corporate entities and government funding to achieve our goals of excellence. Our faculty is very creative and seeks funding from many private and other sources, and since this is a formal academic program of the College, funds are contributed through College budgets and the Alumni Foundation to provide equipment and some student stipends. For a recent change in some of our policies, see this link.