Now she works in a bioengineering lab, editing graphics for a report on the cause of blood clotting on artificial organs in the human body. She is one of many undergraduates who become involved, one way or another, in research performed at the university. Some do it for academic credit, some for money, some just for experience. Students and professors agree that an undergraduate research project can be uniquely beneficial to both parties. It can also be a disaster.
Research also fosters independent thinking and intellectual confidence in students.
You weren't going to be spoon-fed. Her fond memories of work as an undergraduate researcher played an important role in her decision to leave her Wall Street programming job and return to Columbia as a graduate student. Tselepis' experience is a good example of how undergraduate research work can influence career choices. For some, it is a litmus test for an entry into academic life. Instead of looking for the knowledge we do have, he says, research forces students to look for knowledge we don't have.