University of Mount Union

The Tomsich Summer Research Program

Students will develop and write a research proposal in collaboration with a Mount Union College faculty member who will serve as the supervisor for the summer of research. The application for the program, which is available from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science, must be submitted to the office of the Dean of the College by January 15. Proposals for research will be evaluated and the winners will be selected by the department heads from Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Students selected for the program will be notified early in March and must respond by March 15.

• Application Form
• Deadlines:
  • Submission - January 15
  • Selection - March 1
    Notification letter to student, supervisor, and department chair from the Dean of the College
  • Acceptance - March 15
• Eligibility:
  This program is for Mount Union College students. Therefore, persons graduating in the spring are not eligible for the program in the following summer. Post baccalaureate students are not eligible. Normally students selected will have completed their junior year of study.
• Evaluation Process:
  The proposals submitted to the Dean will be sent to an external reviewer who will rank the proposals on their scientific merit. The proposals will then be evaluated by the department heads from Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science considering the qualifications of the student proposing the project and the cost.
  Department chairs will then rank the proposals except for proposals from their department. This ranking will be based on all criteria listed above including scientific merit. The average score of each proposal will then be used to determine their relative rank.
  In the event an award is declined by a student, the award can be given to the student with the next highest score, if the proposal is judged to be meritorious.
• Academic Credit:
  Students may receive academic credit for this experience by registration for the appropriate course and payment of tuition.
• Senior Culminating Experience:
  This program can be used as the SCE if the departmental requirements for the SCE are met. Students must register for the SCE and pay the appropriate tuition.
• Length of Program:
  The program will last a minimum of ten weeks and the expectation is that students will work at least a normal work week (8 hours / day, 5 days / week) in the program. Breaks in the work schedule are acceptable, if approved by the faculty supervisor; however, a minimum of ten weeks of work is required.
• Payment Plan:
  Payment to students will be coordinated with the Business Office so that compensation is prorated over the ten weeks of the program and will be approved by the faculty supervisor. Final payment will occur upon submission of the final report of the project.
• Reports:
  It is expected that students will file regular progress reports with the faculty supervisor during the course of the summer. A final report on the project must be completed at the end of the project and three copies of the report must be submitted to the Office of the Dean of the College.
  A forum with short presentations of the summer research or poster presentations will be arranged by the faculty supervisors and scheduled early in the fall semester. The program for the following summer will be announced at the forum and an article in the Dynamo should also be used to advertise the program to students on campus.

The Tomsich Summer Research Program Awardees

2002

Pamela Farnsworth

Project Area: Biology

Project Title: "Investigation into Calcium Release caused by 1-2-3 Trisphosphate of Plant Cells"

Faculty Supervisor: Jon Scott