Lessons, Experiences and Opportunities Gained Through a 3‐Year Undergraduate Research Study
Authors: CARTER KATLYNN , MYTYCH JOSH , SORIANO STEPHANIE , PARMAR NITIKA 
Published: November 2023

Research in the undergraduate setting has been ever changing and is increasingly needed for pursuit of a higher‐education degree. As a culmination of the undergraduate research we conducted at our home institution, CSU Channel Islands, we have learned invaluable skills and lessons that will undoubtedly prove useful as our careers move forward. From our experience, we now have a more analytical thinking style that is essential for research scientists. We have been given opportunities to present our work at various conferences and have learned the skills of brevity and confident speaking, and have also been motivated to share the importance of undergraduate research with fellow students on our home campus.

The goal of our three‐year study was to characterize the effects that six potential anti‐cancer agents have on six women's cancer cell lines. The cell lines were representative of cervical, breast, ovarian, uterine tissues, and human embryonic kidney 293 cells were utilized as a control. Initially, a broad screen was conducted on 92 hypothesized anti‐cancer agents and further characterizations of the six agents included proliferation, and pathway‐specific studies. As a result of this research experience, we gained enormous technical skills in the areas of cell and molecular biology, cell culture and biochemistry, which would not have been possible in routine teaching labs. This research was conducted over the academic year and the summer break, involving graduate students as well for a short period.

The research had its own share of challenges of course which included balancing our course load with research time, aligning the researchers’ schedules so as to collaboratively work together on the project and mastering the technical skills needed in the area of mammalian cell culture, which requires a high level of expertise. Additionally, expressing discipline‐specific technical language into layman language for a broader audience was quite an interesting challenge in itself! Despite all these temporary hurdles, we feel that the experience gained is totally worth all the effort and time commitment.

We were able to present this research at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR), California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB), Experimental Biology (EB) meeting, and the CSU Research Competition (CSURC) as posters and talks. This opportunity to present this research was supported by a few key organizations, namely Project ACCESO, Student Research Steering Council (SRSC), Putrah Foundation, and Louise Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), in varying degrees to the student researchers.

Collectively, these opportunities have led us to start a research club called the Channel Islands Research Society (CIRS) at our home institution. Undergraduate research is becoming essential for a competitive edge at the masters and doctorate level, but because our institution is small, few come to Channel Islands with intent to pursue research interests and not many are aware of the importance of research in their undergraduate careers. The goal of CIRS is to raise awareness about and to spark a deeper interest in undergraduates by joining together undergraduate researchers at our institution and collectively sharing our experiences. In doing this, we hope to influence and inspire undergraduates to participate in research in all disciplines.

Support or Funding Information

Project ACCESO, LSAMP, Putrah Foundation