IMPACT OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ON THE TRANSITION TO POST-GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMSMaria Diakonova

Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.

Abstract

Conclusions

University of Toledo is a doctoral/research extensive university with a strong

focus on undergraduate research. As shown in the summary Тable 1, the

Department of Biological Sciences has an excellent record of successful

STEM transitions from undergraduate into post-graduate research programs

or health related professional programs. This Department offers many

opportunities and programs to prepare and support undergraduates into this

transition including the chance to conduct undergraduate research during the

school year (1), several undergraduate summer research programs (2) and

student research symposiums (3), participate in the Honor Program (4), and

study abroad at the University of Salford, England (5). UT also offers

attractive scholarship initiatives (Founders and Trustees Scholarships, and

many pre-medical scholarships). As a result, Biological Sciences

undergraduates earned an average 3.33 GPA upon graduation and

approximately 64% were accepted into graduate or professional programs in

2010-2017 demonstrating the impact of undergraduate research on STEM

transition.

Profile of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of

Toledo The University of Toledo (UT) is an open-enrollment comprehensive

metropolitan state university in suburban Toledo, Ohio with approximately

20,000 students in 10 colleges and offers more than 300 undergraduate,

graduate and professional programs. UT primarily serves students from

Northwest Ohio. In the 2013-14 academic year, undergraduates make up

about 76.6% of the approximately 20,000 enrolled students, of these 49.1%

are female, and 21% are of African-American, Hispanic or American

Indian/Alaskan Native descent. The Department of Biological Sciences is

home to 512 declared undergraduate Biology majors and 80 Medical

Technology majors: 398 female and 194 male; 31 Hispanic, 40 Asian, 63

African-Americans, and 379 Caucasian. The Department has 37 Ph. D.

students, and 3 Master degree candidates (2018). In addition there are

another 204 undergraduate students with a declared pre-medical, pre-dental

or pre-veterinary concentration that had not yet chosen a major, based on

historical trends, over half of these will eventually declare Biology as their

major.

Table 1

*Medical, dental, osteopathic medicine, physician’s assistant, anesthesiology

assistant, veterinary medicine, etc.

**M.S., Ph.D., J.D. programs. #Numbers likely an underestimate as not all graduates forwarded placement data.

NB: 2016-2017 data incomplete

Conduction of undergraduate research during the school year as well as undergraduate

summer research, student research symposiums, participate in the Honor Program, and study

abroad, demonstrate increasing probability of successful STEM transitions from

undergraduate into post-graduate research programs and professional programs.

Department of Biological Sciences has an excellent record of graduate placements into

post-graduate research programs and health related professional programs. Fig.1

demonstrates that the research-active population of graduates has increasing probability

of successful placement into post-graduate research programs and health related

professional programs (Fig. 1, blue color) as compared to the non-research-active

students (Fig. 1, orange color).

Fig. 4. 31.8% of graduates reported pursuing an advanced degree and 18% planed to

continue education but not yet accepted; of those, 57% pursued professional degree (JD,

MD).

Fig. 4A. Question: which of the following BEST describes your primary status after

graduation?

At the end of each semester the University of Toledo in conjunction with its Center for

Experiential Learning and Career Services surveys our graduating students to learn their first

destinations after leaving the University of Toledo. A First Destination survey is a brief online

survey for gathering employment and graduate school admissions data from new college

graduates. The data in Figs. 2- 4 represent data for the College of Natural Science and

Mathematics (NSM; Departments of Biological Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry,

Environmental Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Astronomy) for students

graduated in 2016-2017.

Fig. 2. Of those who responded to the question about experiential learning, 90.1% reported

participating in at least one form of experiential learning and 33% of them participated in

research

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Question 2: Did you participate in any form of experiential learning (EL) while at UT?

Fig. 3. 89.7% of graduates who reported being employed indicated that the position they

found required a college degree (Fig. 3A) and 63% indicated that it was related to their major

(Fig. 3B)

Question 3A: Do you feel your overall degree program has prepared you for your career

choice or advanced study?

Question 3B: Please select the category which BEST describes your employment

Fig. 4B. Question: Degree you are pursuing

1. Undergraduate research

We encourage our undergraduate students who are thinking of graduate

school, medical school or other health-related professional school, to consider

conducting undergraduate research with one of our faculty members.

Students obtain the consent of the faculty member before registering for any

section of BIOL 4910 (Undergraduate Research). Students in the Honors

Program, or wishing to be considered for Departmental Honors, must conduct

an independent research project, write a thesis and make an oral presentation

about their work before graduation.

NIH AREA funding is an important source of continuation and support

for undergraduate projects

The success of the Undergraduate Research program in the long term depends

on maintaining a vigorous, externally-funded, nationally-competitive research

environment. The NIH AREA award (R15 grant) gives resources to support

undergraduate research at a level that allows undergraduate students to

participate in research projects that are at the cutting-edge of medical research.

This ensures that the students have competitive advantage with their peers

nationally.

Currently 9 of 19 Faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences are funded by

this AREA program

2. Undergraduate Summer Research programs

There is a very active summer research climate on campus for undergraduates.

Undergraduates compete for several summer fellowships funded by UT. These

include the First Year Summer Research Experience program (FYSRE) which

provides $2500 stipend and $250 in lab supplies for students conducting summer

research after completing their freshman year of classes. This program gets students

involved in research early in their academic career, allowing them to continue their

projects until graduation. UT also administers the Undergraduate Summer Research

and Creative Activity Program (USRCAP) providing the same stipend as the FYSRE,

but for students that have already completed their sophomore year. An average of 10-

12 students are funded by these programs each summer; our department is

consistently awarded 50% or more of these fellowships for students working on

campus. The Honors program also funds Sullivan Fellowships ($2,000) that may be

used for summer research and Founders scholars receive ($3,000) for summer

research as well.

For the last 15 years, the Department of Biological Sciences has held its annual

symposium every spring to allow undergraduate students to present their research

findings. Over 100 students have presented their work at the spring symposium over the

years, and those student presenters have gone on to medical/graduate schools and

biomedical careers. The URS provides a forum for undergraduate students to present

their work in a formal setting, similar to what they will experience if they choose a career

in science. It provides an opportunity to showcase the exciting projects in which our

undergraduates are involved. It also demonstrates to the public the important role

undergraduate students play in the departmental research mission.

URS 2016 Participants

3. 2. Annual Sigma Xi Research Symposium

In spring 2002, the UT Chapter of Sigma Xi expanded its annual spring Research

Symposium to include an undergraduate section. Since then, Biology majors have

presented their work in the Life Sciences Division, and each year one of our majors has

been the First Place winner. One of the winners is in a MD/Ph.D. program at the

Cleveland Clinic Molecular Medicine program. Past recipients were at the MD/Ph.D.

program of University of Cincinnati and Vanderbilt Cancer Center.

4. The University Honors Program

UT is remarkable in that although it is an open enrollment institution, it routinely attracts outstanding students

because of the highly selective Honors Program on campus as well as attractive scholarship initiatives

(Founders and Trustees Scholarships, and many pre-medical scholarships). The nationally recognized

Honors program currently has about 900 undergraduates, of whom about 300 are in the College Natural

Sciences and Mathematics with 50% of those students matriculating as either biology majors or students with

a pre-professional concentration. Students in the Honors program have a modified curriculum with smaller

class sizes, more interactive class activities with more critical thinking and writing activities. All Honors

students must complete an independent research project and write an Honors thesis based on their findings.

Completed research must also be presented as a formal research seminar. Many of the honors students

typically present their research either at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR), the

local Sigma Xi Symposium, the University of Toledo’s Honors Brown Bag Seminar Series and/or Annual

Undergraduate Research Symposium. Most UT Biosciences faculty have one or more Honors

undergraduates in their research labs

The University of Toledo has a formal exchange program with the University of Salford in England (near

Manchester). Since 1984, more than 200 UT students have gone to Salford and almost 200 Salford students

have come to UT. Selected UT students may spend their junior year at Salford where they take the equivalent of

all their upper division biology courses. In addition, students participate in a week-long residential marine

biology field course in Wales. Students also have the opportunity to travel through the UK and Europe. Eligibility

is based on scholastic standing with a minimum GPA of 3.2 required. Students who have participated in the

exchange program have excellent placement records for medical and graduate school after graduation.

5. Study abroad at the University of Salford, England.

Students from different universities across the country perform a summer research at the

Department. For example, in the summer of 2008, Dr. Diakonova had one

undergraduate student, Jayne Lu, who was undergraduate student from the John

Hopkins University, working in the lab. Jayne was a co-author in a manuscript published

in the “Molecular Endocrinology” in 2009 (see below). Morgan Boucher from the Ohio

State University and Joanna Peng from the Northeast Ohio Medical University worked

also as summer students in the Diakonova lab in 2011 and 2015.

Graduates with a Biology major were accepted into some of the nation’s most prestigious graduate and medical

programs including: Stanford University, Harvard University, Case Western Reserve University, Johns Hopkins

University, Northwestern University, The University of Michigan, Washington University, The University of

Chicago, George Washington University, as well as many excellent mid-west schools: The University of

Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, Miami University, Michigan State University, Indiana University, and The

University of Illinois. These data demonstrate that the Department of Biological Sciences provides its students

with a solid undergraduate education. Overall, UT has a 10 year average of 76% of students with a 3.5 GPA or

higher going on to medical school. We believe that this demonstrates that we are providing a solid

undergraduate education.

Graduate Placements of University of Toledo Biology Majors

3. 1. Annual Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS)

%

%

%

A%

B

Fig. 1

2016-2017 data incomplete