University students presented their scientific research yesterday at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium outside Chancellor Green Cafe. The symposium brought together students in the sciences, social sciences and engineering.
Awards were given to the best presentations both overall and within each discipline. The first place prize and $1,000 went to ecology and evolutionary biology major Julia Miller '05 for her research on the Rinderpest virus in the Serengeti ecosystem.
Prizes are awarded based on criteria including how interesting the student's subject matter is, how scientifically vigorous the research is and how well the student presents the findings, according to computer science professor Szymon Rsinkiewicz, who helped judge the presentations along with ten other University professors and last year's winner.
The symposium, organized by a student-led steering committee, was founded three years ago by Jordan Amadio '05. "It was based on the notion that people work very hard on their research but never do any formal presentation for Princeton," associate chair Rob Buerki '06 said.
Buerki said that before the symposium was created, students often presented for outside organizations but were unable to show their findings to those nearest them — those in the Princeton community.
"All this research takes place and nobody knows about it," said Buerki, a molecular biology major.
The symposium began at 3 p.m. with poster presentations and judging, followed by a career services panel that featured prominent Princeton alums in science and engineering. Dr. Adel Mahmoud, the President of Merck Vaccines and a member of the Board on Global Health, presented the keynote address.
To participate in the symposium, students were invited to submit abstracts, out of which 43 were chosen. Most participants were seniors who presented their theses.
Presenters came from departments ranging from geology to computer science to sociology. Ecology and evolutionary biology major Rebecca Sealfon '05 studied marine animal adaptation, while economics major Sean Cameron '05 performed a behavioral finance study of homeowners' rationality. Cameron won first prize in the behavioral and social sciences as well as the interdisciplinary award.
Derrick Raphael '06, a sociology major, was among the few juniors at the symposium. He completed his research about the positive and negative affects of globalization on the Caribbean community in the summer after his freshman year.
Meena Anand '05 of the psychology department said she felt her research on eating disorders was particularly relevant to the Princeton community, considering results of a recent eating disorders survey. Anand looked at how people perceive and judge those with eating disorders.
Unlike the University survey, Anand found that most Princeton students were very informed about eating disorders, which she attributes to the prominence of such disorders on campus.
Molecular biology major Adam Castano '05's research on the growth of telomeres (the protective ends of chromosomes) also has real-world significance, since it contributes to understanding how to combat cancer.
Many students said they were not at the symposium for the awards, but for the experience. "The point is to learn about others' research and to let others know about your own," Cameron said.
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