MAKING THE JUMP TO UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FOR TOP-LEVEL HIGHSCHOOL STUDENT RESEARCHERS: FINDING SOME POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

As mentors or institutions who employ highschool student researchers (HSSRs), we teach them about the joys (and frustrations) of science research, but rarely about strategies and skills to allow HSSRs to move into undergraduate (UG) research. Although more labs accept undergraduate student researchers (UGSRs) than will take HSSRs, few labs have > 1-2 UGSRs, making competition for slots intense. Since few HSSRs publish in the scientific literature, many lack curriculum vitae (CV) when they try to join an UG lab. Since funding agencies, reviewers, editors, and colleagues may castigate HSSRs' research, few HSSRs' mentors note that HSSRs have contributed significantly to their data output. To change this, NSF and all funders should note the contributions made by HSSRs' and UGSRs' research. Publishers, academic societies, and the Society for Science and the Public (Regeneron Science Talent Search, International Science and Engineering Fair hosts) should demand that all publications list all important researchers: The Journal of Dawning Research that publishes only HSSRs' research does not consign papers coauthored by HSSRs to the trash. Even if HSSRs can plump up their CVs, some cannot make résumés or CVs that highlight their research skills and experience. Thus, HSSRs' mentors, research teachers, and labs should offer instruction or online guides in building professional CVs specific to their discipline, coupled with training and hands-on interviewing experiences, because some HSSRs lose potential slots due to poor interviews. Although undergraduate colleges have successfully used UGSRs for years, few labs feel that they can successfully or safely supervise > 1-2 UGSRs. Having NSF and other funders allot more money to train more lab supervisors and to pay their UGSRs would, thus, increase the labs benefiting from UGSRs. GSA and other academic societies could offer training courses for senior research staff in solving their specific technical issues in UGSR supervision.