Abstract:

Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) is a 16 year old North American style university of about 1700 students located in Morocco. We have a limited number of undergraduate and graduate programs, and have been exploring ways to increase the involvement of students in research.

Faculty from across the university developed a proposal to add support for research by tapping the potential of our undergraduate research population by initiating an Undergraduate Research Program (URP). Such programs are becoming more popular among small and medium sized universities, not as a replacement for traditional research programs, but as a means for tapping into new populations where resources are scarce and for providing a significant development experience for students.

Our program grew from a convergence of interest and a variety of experiences across the university. The URP was launched with a semester-long undergraduate research competition, with prizes awarded both by the student Rotaract Club and the university. This is followed by a summer research program for undergraduates, both of which will become regular features of undergraduate student education at AUI.

The main challenges in setting up such a program are twofold: motivating busy students and faculty supervisors to participate, and developing a structure that supports research at an appropriate level for undergraduates in a variety of disciplines. We discuss our efforts at addressing these two challenges, and present a model for starting a similar program at other universities.

Keywords:

Undergraduate research.