Rice Students Help Launch Undergrad Research Journal

CONTACT: Lia Unrau

PHONE: (713)
831-4793

E-MAIL: unrau@rice.edu

RICE STUDENTS HELP LAUNCH UNDERGRAD RESEARCH
JOURNAL

Two Rice students and an alumnus
helped launch a new scientific journal focused entirely on undergraduate science
research, and published by undergraduates.

Called The National Journal of Young
Investigators (JYI), the web-based publication
premiered in December at http://www.jyi.org. It is to
be published three times a year.

JYI is a national journal staffed by undergraduate students.
The articles are faculty and student reviewed, peer edited and published.

In addition to original research articles, the journal also
includes news and issues related to undergraduate research, and information
about summer internships.

Rice senior Anna Miller serves as an associate editor; alumnus
Patrick Chang ’98, a medical student at the University of California-San
Francisco, is the senior section editor of the Basic Engineering Sciences
section; and Rice sophomore Jaime Beers authored an article that appears in the
inaugural issue.

“We are delighted with the involvement of Rice undergraduates
and alumni in the National Journal of Young Investigators,” said Kathy Matthews,
dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. “This student-operated journal
provides a novel opportunity for students to publish their undergraduate
research accomplishments.”

Rice student participation in the new journal underscores the
importance Rice places on research at the undergraduate level.

“We believe strongly at Rice in the crucial connection between
research and education and in the importance of research exposure as part of the
undergraduate experience,” Matthews said. “Strategic planning efforts have
consistently identified this area as a unique opportunity for Rice students, who
have the potential to participate in and contribute to the cutting-edge research
efforts of our faculty.”

Miller, a sophomore biology major at Rice from Arlington,
Texas, is a newly appointed assistant editor for the biology section. She will
review research article submissions, with the help of a Rice faculty
member.

“I think it’s hard, especially for younger students, to get
published,” Miller said. “This journal provides a lot more opportunity for
people my age who do research over the summer. It’s hard to have a goal of
getting published if there is no place for the research to get
published.”

Jaime Beers is a senior at Rice from Highlands Ranch, Colo.,
whose research appears in JYI’s first issue. Her paper, “Stepwise Assembly of
Silver(n-alkane)thiolates: An Example of Hierarchical or Cooperative
Self-Assembly,” describes research she conducted during a summer research
program at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“I think that [this journal] is a fantastic idea because it
will raise the visibility of outstanding undergraduates in the scientific
community, which will help them find better positions in graduate school and
potential jobs,” Beers said. “One thing that I have noticed about the way
science works, is that as you read journal articles for various
reasons–reports, research background, and so forth–you take note of the fact
that certain names pop up again and again, and these are the people who you look
to for advances in the field. The way that one builds a reputation is by
publishing quality work on a regular basis, and being ‘first author’ on a great
article in a journal which reaches a broad audience is a great way of being
recognized. JYI seems like it’s going to reach a varied group of undergraduates,
grad students, and hopefully also professors who are looking to take on new grad
students.”

Rice University is a leading American research university,
small, private, and highly selective, distinguished by its superior teaching,
commitment to undergraduate education, outstanding graduate and professional
programs, residential college system, collaborative and interdisciplinary
culture, and global perspective.

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