EUREKA, The University of Texas at Austin’s Web-based guide to faculty research and research opportunities for undergraduate students, marked its first anniversary this fall.
EUREKA features an online directory of faculty research interests for the more than 1,800 faculty members and research scientists at the university. Visitors to the site are able to search by keyword and find faculty from a wide range of fields working on a variety of topics. The most popular searches from the first year were nanotechnology, health, environment and children.
Students use EUREKA to find tips on getting started in research, information on funding and publication, and postings by university faculty for research positions on campus.
But the Web resource also has a human side. Interested students have the option to meet individually with staff research coordinators to develop strategies for getting involved and find placements.
Bisi Ogunro, a junior Spanish/premed major, used EUREKA to find a research placement on the Governor’s Task Force on Obesity, working under the supervision of Linda Golden, a marketing professor in the McCombs School of Business.
“You can find anything and everything you need on this Web site,” Ogunro says. “I didn’t know where to start in my search for a professor to work with, but EUREKA gave me just what I was looking for—detailed descriptions of faculty research interests and access to an adviser who helped me contact Dr. Golden.”
For faculty members, EUREKA provides a venue to connect with potential collaborators, a searchable database of undergraduates who are interested in participating in research, an opportunity to post undergraduate openings on current research projects and a quick and easy means of sharing information on their research and interests.
Lynda Gonzales, Program Coordinator
Connexus, Connections in Undergraduate Studies
