There is little doubt that, for an inquiring young college undergraduate, working in a laboratory or spending time amongst science professionals can help tip the scales in the direction of a science- or mathematics-based career.

This is, in fact, a very real reason why so many of the brightest young minds in California vie for the opportunity to pursue their education at UCSD. To work with world class faculty at an undergraduate level is an excellent opportunity for students to have hands on real world experience.

There is a consistent theme amongst the alumni of the Division of Physical Sciences and that is the undergraduate research experience - access to extraordinary faculty and training that was life altering. Look at the success of our alumni, nine of which have been recognized by the UCSD Alumni Association as outstanding alumni, for being global leaders, from starting the world’s largest hedge fund, to creating Invitrogen to developing the Apple Macintosh, it is the combination of education with research experience that makes this experience so unique for our students.

As we face the looming predicted shortage of talent in the science community – teaching and working – the need to provide undergraduate research experiences, particularly in a collegial, interdisciplinary environment, is imperative. In the UCSD Division of Physical Sciences, we have seen the powerful effect of exposing our undergraduates to real-world experiences
The undergraduate research experience is widely touted as an effective educational tool for enhancing the undergraduate experience with multiple benefits, the most instrumental of which is an increased interest in a career in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce.

Undergraduate research experiences are associated with:

• increased persistence in pursuit of an undergraduate degree
• increased levels of pursuit of graduate education
• alumni retrospective reports of higher gains than comparison groups in skills such as carrying out research, acquiring information, and speaking effectively
• helps promote career pathways for members of underrepresented groups by increasing the retention rate of minority undergraduates and increasing the rate of graduate education in minority students

Among of the most effective tools that we have to inspire our students is the UC San Diego campus itself, filled as it is with world-class laboratories and researchers. Indeed, we are inundated with lab work requests from our undergraduates, yet the state does not provide adequate funds to compensate students for the work they produce in these labs, or funds that enable them to participate in symposia, work groups, field data gathering and travel. So, during the school year and summer months, students with a great potential must work flipping burgers instead of determining the structure of a protein, learning how cells function or figuring out the mechanism of a disease.

The Division of Physical Sciences is committed to continue to offer extraordinary undergraduate research experience. Feedback from the Division of Physical Sciences alumni indicated that undergraduate research enabled our alumni to exceed in their career with success stories like creating the Apple Macintosh or to coax bacteria into creating synthetic human insulin, human growth hormone, and human TPA for use in therapeutic medicine that launched Genentech based on undergraduate research experience at UCSD.

The Division of Physical Science Annual Giving program makes possible the Dean’s Awards for Undergraduate Excellence which recognizes stellar students that excel in the classroom and conduct independent research. In addition, alumni and friends support undergraduate research experiences by providing financial resources so that students may conduct independent research under the guidance of Physical Sciences faculty.