The 2021 Winchell Undergraduate Research Symposium the planning committee sent a survey to faculty mentors asking about their current student research activities and how they compared to past years. About half the respondents said they were mentoring the same number and same type of undergraduate research projects as usual. Among the 48% respondents who are mentoring fewer students than usual, the biggest challenge was limited lab access. Therefore, mentors expressed a desire for suggestions of projects that could be accomplished virtually.

In response to that identified need, we are seeking to provide resources to faculty and students to support research, when in many cases in-person work cannot occur as it has in the past.  Previous blog posts highlighting the work by Dr. Jessica Bell at Century College and by Dr. Cindy Norton at St. Catherine University feature ways that remote research and scholarship has succeeded. 

We have also identified the following resources and ideas for research projects:

• The Tiny Earth program is a large network of faculty who incorporate student sourcing of antibiotic discovery into their courses.  They will be offering their next round of faculty training in January and in addition to their robust hands-on, in-person curriculum, have developed virtual alternatives to meet laboratory learning objectives and move research forward. 

• The American Society for Microbiology provides many ideas for how to engage students in research in this article.

• There are a wide variety of citizen science projects that by definition are highly amenable to being done remotely.  Get inspired by reading  this citizenscience.org blog.  Likewise, many researchers are looking for help with a plethora of projects at Zooniverse. Check our citizen science page for opportunities focused in Minnesota.

How are you continuing your research program in a distanced fashion?  What ideas do you have for projects that others might consider?  Please add your thoughts and ideas in the comments section! And if you want to write a full blog post, let us know, we’ll be happy to help you share your experiences and advice with others facing the same challenges!