Starting a new tradition at Princeton

PMRS forms new undergraduate symposium

From the days of Jonathan Dickinson to Woodrow Wilson to Shirley Tilghman, undergraduate students have met in dorm rooms, eating clubs, libraries, lounges, and stairwells to parley about science, art, and politics. This intellectual culture is one of the finest silken threads woven into the Princeton tradition.

Yet, while there have always been vibrant informal dialogues dotting the campus like fireflies, there has never been a formal setting for undergraduates to present and discuss their own research findings with their peers and classmates.

The recently formed Princeton Materials Research Society (PMRS), an undergraduate organization, has changed all this. The First Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium was held May 8 at Bowen Hall.

"The symposium was organized to fill an important need in Princeton's intellectual life: interactive dialogue among student researchers," said PMRS's new chair, Jordan Paul Amadio '05, a physics major. "Every year, Princeton undergraduates carry out a tremendous number of innovative projects as part of their independent work, and the results are usually seen only by their advisers."

The speakers were all graduating seniors. Lavinia Ursescu, Hema Karunadasa, Suberr Chi, Filip Crnogorac, Jacob Glass, Charles Steinhardt, Todd Johnson, Forrest Collman, and Casey Jacobson presented their research on topics ranging from materials science to computational biology.

"I was thrilled at the response to the symposium," Jordan said. "Students from every walk of campus life participated. Everyone from freshmen to seniors could be seen in the audience, representing all stripes of science and engineering students. Professors attended, too. Even humanities majors came!"

PMRS's hope is that this symposium has sewn the first few stitches in a new tapestry of tradition.

"In my eyes, the first Undergraduate Research Symposium achieved and surpassed its goal of genuine interdisciplinary exploration," Jordan said. "I am confident that in future years this event will evolve beyond even my own expectations, setting a gold standard for undergraduate scientific dialogue at Princeton."