* * * * * * * *

Gazi Begum entered her senior year in Fall 2005 as an undergraduate student in psychology and she has already completed much of a senior thesis that has both personal and professional rewards.

The research by Begum, who immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh as a baby, explores the relationship between parental praise and children's relationships with friends.

"I noticed within my family and the larger Bengali community that there is less emphasis on praising children and other positive emotions than in American-born families," said Begum. "So from a personal standpoint, I became interested in what happens when parents do emphasize positive emotions.

"Academically, I wanted to do something related to parent-child interactions," Begum said. "I saw there was a lot of research on negative emotions, and decided to look at when things go right."

Begum was able to start the research in her junior year after receiving a Psychology Research Opportunities Program fellowship through the College of Letters and Science. Her preliminary findings show that when fathers react positively to events in their children's lives, their children are more likely to have high-quality relationships with their best friends.

"That makes me a more competitive applicant to graduate school in clinical psychology next fall," said Begum, who is working with her post-doctoral mentor, Jian Gonzaga, on refining her senior thesis. "I feel like I'm already doing everything I would be doing in graduate school because I developed a project from beginning to end, presented my work at conferences and ultimately hope to publish it."

One of 22 students chosen for the McNair Undergraduate Research Program in 2005-2006, Begum is among nearly 200 undergraduate students that are being funded to conduct advanced research and thousands more that are receiving other kinds of training and support for their research interests through the Undergraduate Research Centers.

UCLA has long encouraged undergraduates to actively participate in research; the centers, created by the College in 1997, serve as a focal point for research-related workshops, counseling, scholarships and presentation opportunities.

As a result, undergraduates at all levels can take advantage of being at a major research university and directly contribute to the creation of new knowledge.

"I thought we needed a central office that facilitated undergraduates getting into research across campus," said Judi Smith, vice provost for undergraduate education and the initiator of the centers. "We also wanted to provide scholarship opportunities for students who wanted to get into advanced, comprehensive research projects; many of our students just can't afford to engage in research because they have to earn money."

Two separate centers are devoted to the life and physical sciences and the humanities and social sciences. Smith said that 40 percent of all undergraduates in the College engage in some form of research, with the highest participation -- 75 percent -- among graduating seniors in the life sciences.

"Research is truly an essential part of getting an undergraduate science education," said Audrey Cramer, director of the Undergraduate Research Center for the sciences, which also serves students in engineering. "The vast majority of science students go on to graduate or professional schools, and it's expected they will get some research experience here."

Reed Wilson, director of the Undergraduate Research Center for the humanities and social sciences, noted that in the disciplines he oversees, students have few opportunities to work on faculty-generated research, which is often a solitary effort, such as writing a book. Therefore, he explained, "We try to encourage faculty to mentor students who are involved in their own projects. Increasingly, graduate programs and professional schools such as law and public policy look for students who've done research."

Senior Omid Hariri is a departmental scholar who is working simultaneously on a bachelor's degree in neuroscience and a master's degree in neurobiology. Through the Undergraduate Research Center, he received a scholarship from the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Program that funds student work with faculty on biomedical research topics.

Under the guidance of neurology professor Istvan Mody, Hariri is using the scholarship to study how a protein binds to and regulates the concentration of calcium in the body, which relates to medical conditions affecting the muscles, nervous system and brain. Hariri's interactions with faculty on research have also influenced his long-term goals.

"When I entered UCLA I wanted to be a surgeon, but after seeing how medical practice starts from research and how inspiring it is to be a professor who helps students reach where they want to get to, I learned how much I enjoy being in an academic environment." Hariri now plans to pursue a joint medical degree and Ph.D. to continue conducting research and become a faculty mentor himself.

Similarly, Begum realized the professional direction she wants to take as a result of research opportunities. While attending an undergraduate conference made possible by a travel grant she received from the Undergraduate Research Center, she gained a different perspective about her research from a faculty member who is doing similar work.

"I was telling him about a trend and he asked about the exceptions," Begum said. "That got me interested in pursuing abnormal development in clinical psychology, studying social deficits when kids don't have social skills."

All undergraduates have several options for finding their place in the university's research community. Some get their first exposure through the Student Research Forum, an honors course that explores the role of research at UCLA and throughout the nation, or through seminars and tutorial courses. Many others enter through the lower division Student Research Program, which offers a Course 99 in all departments, and helps students to obtain research skills and define academic interests and objectives. A number of special summer research programs are also available.

These opportunities pave the way for upper division students to work on comprehensive research projects, such as those conducted by Begum and Hariri, through the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. This work opens the door to students publishing their work in UCLA's nationally-recognized undergraduate scholarly and literary publications or serving as co-authors on faculty research papers.

Smith, who cultivates new sources of private funding for undergraduate research, would like to double opportunities available for scholarships and fellowships in five years, supporting up to 400 students.

"Faculty who work with undergraduates discover they bring in fresh ideas because they're not indoctrinated with old concepts," Smith said. "Because student participation in research is a key element to their undergraduate experience, we need to find a way to get them involved—recognizing not only their commitment, but potential achievements."