Navigating Undergraduate Research at ECU

By: Joseph Paul, EC Scholar and Honors College senior

The vast majority of undergraduate honors programs at public universities require research as a curricular requirement. However, the rationale and importance of undergraduate research is often unarticulated, leaving students with obscured views of its significance. Here, I will address some of the important aspects of undergraduate research and its role in ECU’s Honors College in the form of a Senior Honors Project.

At ECU, students aspiring to careers in health (e.g. medicine) would likely tell you that research experience is critical to gaining admission into professional school, while others may simply address it as a necessary evil to receive an honors degree, among other interpretations. It may also seem like research is restricted to certain disciplines, such as the natural sciences (e.g. biology or chemistry). In reality, research comes in many forms and manifests across the disciplines. It is also important for undergraduates because it is usually their first opportunity to generate original and meaningful ideas and to learn key analytical and communication skills.

Initiating research is perhaps the most daunting part for undergraduates. If you are genuinely passionate about your major, a good starting point is your department, where it should be easy to get connected to research. Certainly, many students (myself included) will be willing to share insight from their journey into research and help navigate the variety of opportunities. It is also important to look broadly and even consider research that may be on the periphery of your academic interests. One recent example of this is ECU alumna and former EC Scholar Mansi Trivedi, who majored in biology but produced an interdisciplinary Senior Honors Project addressing a traditional Indian medical system at the intersection of religion and modern medicine. In this case, Mansi used a study in humanities to answer questions about medicine and society.

There is also great value in using time during the summer to conduct research. There are many paid internship and fellowship programs at ECU and other institutions across academic disciplines. Although these opportunities are competitive, the Honors College, faculty, and other students are all willing to help interested students construct the best application possible for such positions. Going elsewhere for research offers the chance to explore new research questions. I chose to spend my own summers at the Mayo Clinic and more recently at Stanford University to pursue research on motor neuron disease (ALS). I was exposed to different areas of biology and learned new laboratory techniques that were nearly exclusive to each institution.

Certain analytical and communication skills are absolutely required to conduct research–they also translate into useful tools for any imaginable career and develop informed members of society. These skills sometimes come from unlikely places, such as an Honors College humanities seminar, where these skills are used to critically discuss prose or poetry. For example, while the majority of my time reading at present consists of scientific articles, these same analytical tools are essential to dissect the tone and purpose of the writing that can often cloud the scientific merits of the work. Any robust research opportunity will allow you to further refine these skills through the practice of reading, discussing, and eventually composing a manuscript of your research.

There are Honors College alumni who have proceeded to research-based graduate programs. Former EC Scholar Rachel Mehaffey is pursuing a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, which is one of the premier institutions in that field. In another instance Holden Jones, a current EC Scholar, will be pursuing a master’s degree in analytics at NC State next year. I will also be pursuing a doctorate next year in molecular and cellular biology.

On the chance that you find yourself captivated by research, there are avenues for pursuing graduate study at ECU or beyond. The research landscape at ECU is large but certainly navigable and an important component of the Honors College curriculum. Research is not just a means to an end, not just another line on your resume, or a mere requirement to graduate with honors. As a senior in the Honors College, I think I also speak for my peers when I offer up that any of us involved in research are willing to discuss and help advise any student on potential research opportunities.