Local University of Iowa student Preston Anderson selected for annual outreach effort highlighting scholarship and research

2018 Feb 13

Preston Anderson of Council Bluffs, IA is one of 64 students at the University of Iowa featured in an annual outreach effort designed to shine a bright light on their scholarship and research.

The students who are part of this year's "Dare to Discover" street banner program - an annual activity of the University of Iowa's Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (OVPRED) - represent "not only some of the University of Iowa's brightest minds, but our country's bright future," said John Keller, interim vice president for research and economic development and dean of the UI Graduate School.

"We're thrilled to be able to recognize so many students from such diverse disciplines who are contributing to the body of knowledge in everything from medicine and engineering to language and the arts."

The students are pictured on black and gold banners that will hang on street light poles in downtown Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, through the end of March when they will be put on display inside Iowa City's Old Capitol Mall which is the location of the University Capitol Center and the offices of the OVPRED. The banners also note the students' research emphasis.

Nearly 30 percent of undergraduates at the University of Iowa and virtually all graduate and post-graduate students are engaged in research and scholarship by the time they graduate, some supporting work by faculty, and others working on their own experiments and studies.

Undergraduate students play an important role in support research at the University of Iowa. Since 2010, the Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates has awarded more than $3.1 million to more than 1,400 students for fellowships.

"We commit more than $400,000 per year to student involvement in research through ICRU, and about 1,000 students are employed in paid research positions on campus in any given semester," said Bob Kirby, the director of ICRU.

"Research is woven into the curriculum for many majors and meets the experiential learning requirement for our students who are members of the University Honors Program."

Graduate students are also on the front lines of research discoveries and creative work across the UI, in fields ranging from science, engineering, health and technology to the social sciences, arts, and humanities. About 1,300 graduate students are supported as graduate research assistants annually, many funded by external grants. Additionally, the UI Graduate College provides fellowship support to nearly 450 graduate students each year.

The students featured in this year's Dare to Discover banner campaign come from across Iowa, the United States, and the world, and are working inside laboratories and out in the field.

A profile of Preston Anderson is available at: http://dare.research.uiowa.edu.