UW-Madison wins Beckman Scholars award

UW–Madison is one of only thirteen U.S. colleges and universities selected by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation for its prestigious Scholars Program.

The three-year $100,000 grant from the Irvine, Calif.-based philanthropy will support six selected UW–Madison sophomores as Beckman Scholars. Selected scholars will conduct research part time during one academic year, and full time during the summers before and after. Paired with some of the university’s most prominent faculty, and with an emphasis on science at the interface of chemistry and biology, the scholars will have the opportunity to use faculty-mentors’ laboratories as intensive, hands-on learning environments.

“The undergraduates will be encouraged to think and explore independently, and thus work as scientific co-workers and not as technicians,” says David Nelson, UW–Madison professor of biochemistry and director of the Center for Biology Education, which coordinated the application.

The faculty involved in the program, notes Nelson, are not only outstanding researchers, but have histories of successfully mentoring undergraduates in the laboratory. Moreover, the program is truly a cross-departmental and cross-college program with faculty from numerous departments, including biochemistry, chemistry, bacteriology, plant pathology, and biomolecular chemistry, involved as mentors.

Beckman Scholars will have access to special enrichment opportunities, meetings with peers, and specialized workshops and seminars. They will be expected to present at scientific meetings, including UW–Madison’s annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

In addition, the UW–Madison Beckman Scholars will join their peers from other institutions to present their work at an annual research symposium at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science and Engineering in Irvine, Calif.

“It’s a very nice award,” says Nelson. “The Beckman Foundation wants to engage students earlier in their careers, and this is a great opportunity for the university to continue to find new ways to support undergraduates who are serious about research.”

The first scholars will be selected in 2004-05.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation established originally to support basic scientific research. The Beckman Scholars Program was established by the foundation in 1997 and “recognizes outstanding undergraduate students in chemistry and biological sciences research at select universities throughout the United States.”