OURE

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences

OURE Program Overview - The OURE program has been established to expand opportunities for a more active form of learning by students. To encourage the interaction of undergraduate students with faculty. To expand the level of research activity on campus. To be able to demonstrate that teaching and research are compatible and mutually reinforcing.  In the hopes to help recruit superior students into our graduate program.

Expectations of the OURE Experience - Students participating in the OURE program should experience a foundational understanding of how research is conducted in their disciplines and to have a greater understanding of the information resources available and how to utilize these resources. How to interpret research outcomes and learn the fundamentals of experimental design.

  • Application, Instructions and Qualifications
  • Budget
  • Report Guidelines
  • What is asked on the OURE form?
  • Research Support
  • Testimonial

Application, Instructions and Qualifications

Read Instructions Below Carefully  - Closes May 1st

Applications CLOSED for the FS2023-SP2024 AY

  • Previous OURE participants are eligible
  • Group projects are allowed with a maximum of 4 students per group
    (each student must submit their own application with each group member listed)
  • Interested students should contact an OURE Departmental Coordinator
  • Late applications will not be accepted 

*Projects start at the beginning of Fall Semester and end at the conclusion of Spring semester each Academic Year

Each participant and faculty sponsor is to:

  • Discuss their project
  • Come to an agreement
  • A cumulative grade point of 2.50 is required to participate in this program
  • Student must be a full time student with a least 12 credit hours per semester
  • Submit the completed application

*The faculty sponsor agrees to supervise the work and certifies the educational value of the proposed project

Budget

OURE Students

  • Will be awarded a scholarship of $1000.00
      ~Payments will be offered in two installments 
      ~1st payment will be in December ($250)
         --- Upon research adviser confirmation of working 
      ~2nd payment in May upon submission of the final report & reflections due April 3 ($750)
         --- Approved by their research adviser

Faculty - Will receive up-to $200 in supply money per student

*Note for International Students Regarding OURE Payments:
Generally, a foreign person is subject to U.S. tax on its U.S. source income.  Most types of U.S. source income received by a foreign person are subject to U.S. tax of 30%.  A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply if there is a tax treaty between the foreign person's country of residence and the United States.  The tax is generally withheld (NRA withholding) from the payment made to the foreign person.  The term NRA withholding is used in this area descriptively to refer to withholding required under sections 1441, 1442, and 1443 of the Internal Revenue Code.  Generally, NRA withholding describes the withholding regime that requires 30% withholding on a payment of U.S. source income and the filing of Form 1042 and related Form 1042-S.  Payments to all foreign persons, including nonresident alien individuals, foreign entities and governments, may be subject to NRA withholding.

Report Guidelines

Example Reflection

Arts and Humanities 2023-2024

Engineering, Sciences and Social Sciences 2023-2024

Each funded project must provide a final report and reflection
Research adviser must submit approved final report & reflection electronically by April 1 to Dedie at byfieldr@mst.edu

What is asked on the OURE form?

(section 1)
Student must have research advisor approval to submit application, there are 5 sections in the form

(section 2) Student Information 
First and Last Name, Id Number, S&T Email, GPA, Department, Will you graduate FS, Will you be a full time student both semesters

(section 3) Research advisor Information
First and Last Name, S&T Email, Department, Supply Dollars

(section 4) Research Project Information
Is this a Group Project, List Other Participants, Project Title, Short OURE abstract, Description of students role

(section 5)
Offer Letter, Scholarship, and Final Report Information

Research Support

The Writing Center is a tremendous source for feedback and assistance about your OURE reports and reflections. From brainstorming to polishing, the Writing Center can help you at any stage of your writing process. Please visit their website for more information: https://writingcenter.mst.edu/  You can also email them at writing@mst.edu.

The OURE program encourages students to seek research support at the Curtis Laws Wilson Library (https://library.mst.edu/). Research librarians are available to help applicants conduct research in any subject area. Please schedule an appointment at https://library.mst.edu/forms/researchassistancerequestform/.

Testimonial

S&T graduate reflects on her research adventure and imminent career

In one of the world’s oldest tropical rainforests, Lilly Germerotha 2020 Missouri S&T graduate in biological sciences, says she experienced a eureka moment while conducting research last summer.

“My research experience in Malaysian Borneo helped me realize my passion for studying ecosystems and largely defined my scientific career,” says Germeroth. “And engaging in research that involved agriculture, community ecology, conservation and cultural literacy — from the initial planning, through the field surveys, to preparing a manuscript — allowed me to grow exponentially as an early career scientist.”

Read More

OURE Departmental Coordinators

Department Coordinator Email Phone Address
Arts, Languages & Philosophy Courtney Webster webstercour@mst.edu 4869 222 Castleman Hall
Biological Sciences Katie Shannon shannonk@mst.edu 6336 231 Schrenk Hall
Business & Information Technology Bih-Ru Lea leabi@mst.edu 6436 102A Fulton Hall
Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Jee-Ching Wang jcwang@mst.edu 6705 210H Bertelsmeyer Hall
Chemistry Risheng Wang wangri@mst.edu 7729 227 Schrenk Hall
Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering Jianmin Wang wangjia@mst.edu 7503 223 Civil Engineering      
Computer Science Patrick Taylor taylor@mst.edu 7717 341 Comp Science
Economics Mahelet Fikru fikruma@mst.edu 6495 101 Harris Hall
Electrical & Computer Engineering Kristen Donnell kmdgfd@mst.edu 6229 216 Emerson Hall
Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Joan Schuman schumanj@mst.edu 6112 223 Engr. Mgmt
English & Technical Communication Eric Bryan bryane@mst.edu 4622 221 HSS
Geosciences & Geological & Petroleum Engineering       John Hogan jhogan@mst.edu 4618 125 McNutt Hall
History & Political Science Tseggai Isaac tseggai@mst.edu 4805 121 HSS
Materials Science & Engineering Michael Moats moatsm@mst.edu 6974 222 McNutt Hall
Mathematics
Statistics
Matt Insall
Robert Paige
insall@mst.edu
paigero@mst.edu
4901
4907
214 Rolla Building
301 Rolla Building
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Jonghyun Park parkjonghy@mst.edu  4699 127 Toomey Hall
Mining Engineering
Catherine Johnson johnsonce@mst.edu 4258 326 McNutt Hall
Nuclear Engineering & Radiation Science Syed Alam alams@mst.edu 4881 228 Fulton Hall
Physics Alexey Yamilov yamilov@mst.edu 6793 102 Physics
Psychological Science Amy Belfi amybelfi@mst.edu 4956 135 HSS
Teacher Education & Certification Beth Kania-Gosche       bkaniagosche@mst.edu       4120       214 Centennial Hall
updated 2/04/2021

Project Titles for 2022-2023
 Biochemical Reactors for Metal Removal
 DECARBONIZING TRANSPORT: A Meta Analysis of Why Americans Have Difficulty Adapting to the Electric Car Philosophy
 Fundamental Chemistry and Physics of Low-Dimensional Materials and Rational Design of their Applications
1) M-SAT Research in Developing Vibration Testing Procedures for Small Satellites
2) M-SAT Leadership Training and Resource Management Integration for Recruitment and Retention of New Researchers
1,4-Dioxane
3D Printing Research
A Study of Unsolvable Problem Phenomena
AAAL
Aerospace lab research 
An Inside View: The Hispanic Working Class of America 
Analyzing the effect of corrections within television dialogue on the formation of viewers' language ideologies
Bioprinting a Vascularized Bone Model
Bioremediation of Nutrient Pollution in Rolla Ponds
CAMT Quality Management System
Carbon aerogels for high capacity and selective adsorption of carbon dioxide
Characterization of Pyrolysis Oils for Asphalt Rejuvenation
CIVOC Experiment 
CO for Net-Zero Carbon Transportation Fuels from Nuclear
Comparing Materials for Bioink in 3D printing
Comparison of Bioactive Glass for Wound Repair
Comparison of Microvertebrate Assemblages in the Hell Creek Above and Below Extinction Event in Eastern Montana
Constant Current Battery Discharger and Tester
Design and Control of the Directed Energy Profile in Glass-Filament 3D Printing 
Designing complex chalcogenides through building block approach
Detector characterization of Advanced LIGO
Developing a CO2 scrubber for cleaning the environment
Development Of Lithium-ion Battery's In Pouch Cell Formats 
eDNA Survey of Reptiles and Amphibians in Missouri Aquatic Habitats
Effects of Autoimmune Disease on Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Environmental effect on House price
Evaluating toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic responses in two lepidopteran species exposed to a pyrethroid insecticide 
Experimental Investigations of the Lunar Surface Environment in a Ground Vacuum Chamber
Exploring physical properties of magnetic Weyl semimetals
Fractional random walk simulation of serotonergic fibers
Fungal Communities in Stressed Streams
General Purpose Test Bed
Gravitational Wave Open Science Center
Holographically Create Optical Vortex Laser Beams to Control Atomic Ionization 
How Sleep Impacts Human Cognitive Performance
Hybrid (Additive and Subtractive) Manufacturing
Hysteresis Loops in 3D Color-Space of Oscillating Reactions: Exploration of Generality and Mechanistic Interpretation
Identifying molecular differences between shirt and long-lived flies
Impact of Advancement Exams in Electrical and Computer Engineering on the retention rates of Electrical and Computer Engineers at Missouri S&T
Impact of electromagnetic field radiation on the performance of Li-ion battery
Improving the Electrochemical DNA Biosensor with the Application of DNA Nanostructures
Investigating Industrial Methanol Production with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry
Investigation the Stability of DNA Nanostructures for Biomedical Applications
Iterative algorithm to solve the discrete inverse Laplace transformation of NMR relaxations
Learning Quantum Computing using Games
Ligand Exchange on Semiconductor Nanocrystals to Enhance the Charge-Transfer Process in Photorefractive Nanocomposites
Machine Learning Neural Collapse Phenomenon
Manufacturing Lead
Measuring the cosmic evolution of neutral hydrogen abundance with stacked spectra of galaxies in HETDEX
Microwave Double Slit Experiment
Microwave double slit experiment.
Molecular Genetics and Phylogeography of the the Bigmouth Shiner, Notropis dorsalis
Morse Code to Text Translator
Morse Code to Text Translator (MCTT)
Multifunctional Non-Enzymatic Biosensors and Dopamine Synthesis
Novel Modular Supercritical Biodiesel Plant Design
ODE approximations for one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations
Professor-X: creating mutants for CS education
Properties of Hollow-Core Fibers for Biosensor Applications
Protein Quantification with dendrimers present using the Bradford Assay 
Radiation Grafting of Folic Acid (FA) into Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)
Radon Interaction with E-cigarette Aerosolized Components and Comparison to Traditional Cigarettes
Radon-Carbon Nanoparticle Design
Research and improvement of a metal additive manufacturing process
Research on the effects of vibration stimulus on spatial learning in Drosophila
Spacecraft Thermal Analysis Methodology 
Statistical meta-analysis of genomic data
Structurally Reducing Aerodynamic Drag on School Busses
Studying Rural Healthcare Professional's Work Experiences 
Sulfate Removal Rates of Biochemical Reactors 
Synthesis and study of aldehyde mine as organophosphorus decontaminants 
Synthesis and Study of Aromatic and Aliphatic Oximes as Organophosphorus Decontaminants 
Synthesis of Phosphite-based Cathode Materials for Lithium-ion Batteries
Synthesis, Characterization and Crystal Structures of the Unsymmetrical (E,E) 4-halophenyl-1-phenoxy-1,4-dimethylbutadienes
Systematic analysis of C. elegans population dynamics: reproduction and aging
The Different Opinions On the Seismic Risk Of the New Madrid Seismic Zone
The Influence of Thinking About Utopias on Interpersonal Fairness
The Pre and Post-pandemic Housing Market in the US:
An Economic Study
The Use of a Carbon Fiber Steering Wheel to Reduce Mass and Cost
The Use of Carbon Fiber Wheel Shells to Reduce Mass
The Use of Tire Insulators for Increasing Starting Tire Temperature
Thermal conductivity of High Entropy Borides.
Towards a robust field-level inference of cosmological parameters with Machine Learning
Translating the Encyclopédie
Uptake of nutrients by wetland plants
User Interface for Extreme Fast Charging