Georgia Southern University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSM) has launched the Emerging Researchers Program, a new initiative offering undergraduate students the opportunity to be paid for hands-on research.
Many COSM students would jump at the chance to participate in research but either don’t know about assisting opportunities or can’t afford to spend their free time in the lab. Leadership at COSM identified these barriers to student participation and created a dynamic solution through the Emerging Researchers Program.
Collaborating with Georgia Southern’s Financial Aid Office, the college secured 25 federal work-study positions to provide time and funds for aspiring researchers. With the positions ready to be filled in time for the Spring 2025 semester, Heather Joesting, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and administrative fellow for undergraduate research at COSM, stepped in to find qualified students.
To qualify for the program, the students had to:
- a) be in at least the second semester of their major within COSM,
- b) maintain a minimum of a 2.5 GPA and
- c) meet federal work-study requirements.
Qualified students were invited to apply for the program and identify their research interests, after which Joesting paired them with the 20 participating COSM faculty members to assist for up to 15 hours each week.
“They’re being paid as federal work-study students, but they’re also gaining research experience and learning skills that will be important throughout their careers,” Joesting emphasized. “They’re not just washing lab dishes, they’re getting real skills and learning how science really works.”
The emerging researchers range from first-year students to seniors with majors in biology, biochemistry, geoscience and sustainability science. They assist with 26 projects that include evaluating anti-tumor properties in organic compounds, designing and creating environmentally friendly solvents and recycling catalysts, developing physics theories and assessing marine ecology, among others. Faculty in each of these fields appreciate the extra help, but Joesting says the personal gratification is far more rewarding.
“I thoroughly enjoy mentoring students,” Joesting said. “I find it important that they get the whole experience, so I involve them in all aspects [of the research], from experimental design to data collection and analysis. It really helps them with their careers, not only with the skills, but the experience and knowledge of how things work.”
The Emerging Researchers Program is something of a pilot study itself: If the program continues to make a positive impact, other colleges may be able to benefit from work-study research positions for their students as well.
“There are students out there who are hungry for this experience,” Joesting concluded. “I love seeing them become future scientists.”