George,
I have never seen a formal definition. However, mine is that
undergraduate research is any work done in any area on a research
project usually under the guidance of a professor (more practically the
post-doc though). This can include construction of dtector systems,
simulation studies, data analysis, writing simulation code, theory
work,.... Basically any work that a professor, post-doc, or slave (I
mean graduate student) finds themselves doing. Hope that helps.
Sam "Slave (I mean graduate student)" Held
-----Original Message-----
From: Spagna Jr., George [mailto:gspagna@RMC.EDU]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 1999 11:19 AM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Definition of Undergraduate Research
At the risk of rehashing an old subject - does anybody have a good,
concise definition of "undergraduate research".
We're looking for something which is applicable across disciplines, and
our
internal discussions have devolved into the usual "I can't define it,
but I
know it when I see it." Everybody seems to agree that it's a good
thing,
though there are some disciplines which claim that research cannot be
done
by undergraduates. Obviously, such a stance becomes divisive rather
than
helpful.
Thanks in advance for any pointers or good phrases.
************************************************************************
" ... , the secret of my success is that at an early age
I discovered I was not God." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
***********************************************************************
George Spagna
Department of Physics
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505
phone: (804) 752-7344 FAX (804) 752-4724
e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu http://www.rmc.edu/~gspagna.html