Students who do research as undergraduates have an advantage over competitors when it comes to getting into graduate school, said Outreach and Graduate Diversity Coordinator Jose Martinez in a presentation Wednesday.

Five speakers discussed the importance of undergraduate research, outlining several ways on campus that students can get funding for their own projects.

“Those of you who want to go on past your bachelor’s degree – how are you now going to distinguish yourself from the other candidates?” he said.

Terence Manns, director of Research Administration at Sacramento State, said recruiters “look very kindly” on seeing experience in research on a resume.

“Not only do you have the book learning, but you have the experience doing it,” he said.

A research project contest is held each spring at Sac State. Winners go on to compete with other universities and get exposed to other projects students are doing, Manns said.

The McNair Scholars Program, a federal scholarship designed to prepare students for graduate school, gives students the funds to complete a summer research project, and then present it at three universities in the nation.

For example, in 2001, C. Makena Hightower researched the effects of classical music on the speed of a heart rate. She wrote a report on her results, and presented her paper – which is now published – at three universities. She now has her master’s degree in bioengineering and is on her way toward a PhD.

Manns said students should ask their professors if they are doing any research projects they need assistants for.

“Often they’ll have a need for students to collect data, or enter data, or analyze data,” he said.

If a professor has funding, they may be able to hire assistants. If not, professors can give school credit for working on a project, he said.

Assistant Vice President for Research Administration David Earwicker said being involved in research as an undergraduate helped him learn the “nuts and bolts” of how projects are done.

Vicki Pearson-Rounds has been researching to create a dictionary for a language spoken on a small island in Borneo, Indonesia.

“Research to me is an indulgence,” she said. “You get to sit there and read about and write about and explore that which you think is most interesting.”

Lacey Waymire can be reached at [email protected].