Unleash Your Potential: Explore Boundless Horizons with The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity. Elevate your academic journey through hands-on projects, innovative collaborations, and transformative experiences. Ignite curiosity, spark innovation, and shape your future with us. Join the community of scholars and creators today, and dive into a world where your ideas take flight.
HOW do I begin with The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity (CURC)?
The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity provides Clark Atlanta University undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to showcase their scholarship and creative activity.
Held each spring, The CURC Undergraduate and Graduate Symposium brings together an intellectual community of undergraduate and graduate students to share their work with faculty, staff, peers, and external audiences. Participants will gain experience in presenting their research, answer questions, and receive constructive feedback from judges.
The 9th CURC Undergraduate and Graduate Research Symposium will be held Monday through Wednesday, March 26 – 28, 2024 at the Thomas Cole Research Center for Science and Technology. Early student registration is due by December 15 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Regular student registration is due by January 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Clark Atlanta University values undergraduate research. Research and Internships produce students who are better equipped to enter the workforce and produce meaningful results. Research has demonstrated that students who engage in research in their undergraduate curriculum have increased knowledge of the natural world, intellectual and practical skills, as well as personal and social responsibility (Kuh, 2008; Zhao & Kuh, 2004). In addition, research skills have been shown to lead to intellectual growth, academic achievement and professional growth (Lopatto, 2009). During our annual undergraduate research symposium, students from all disciplines and all majors have an opportunity to showcase their research endeavors.
Clark Atlanta University (CAU) has selected “Mentored Undergraduate Scholarly Endeavors” (MUSE) as the topic of its Quality Enhancement Plan. Supported by its vision to increasingly become a dynamic 21st century research university, one of the hallmarks of the CAU community is to promote innovation and collaboration in order to unite and make significant contributions to the knowledge of humankind. Scholarly Endeavors, which encompass both creative and research activities, is defined by the University, “as a systematic or focused inquiry, investigation, experimentation, or exploration – predicated upon intense use of mind – that makes an original, revised, expanded, or interpretive contribution to one or more disciplines in pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and the public good.”
The MUSE vision is to emphasize scholarly inquiry throughout the curriculum to improve undergraduate student learning and enhance and showcase students’ creative works/ performances and research initiatives. The program is designed to employ the high impact practice of student-faculty engagement through curriculum infused pedagogy of creativity, research and discovery across undergraduate academic programs. The University, through this program, aims to fundamentally change the culture of teaching and learning by adapting more relevant, real-world inspired, creative and research-rich educational experiences for students at CAU.
At Clark Atlanta University, we prioritize the significance of undergraduate research. Our commitment to Research and Internships cultivates students into workforce-ready individuals, generating impactful outcomes. Studies affirm that students engaged in undergraduate research attain heightened comprehension of the world, intellect, practical expertise, and social accountability (Kuh, 2008; Zhao & Kuh, 2004).
Moreover, research proficiency propels intellectual, academic, and professional advancement (Lopatto, 2009). Our yearly undergraduate research symposium provides a platform for students across disciplines to exhibit their research pursuits effectively.
Research and creative activity can be conducted from almost anywhere and can take on many forms. Research and/or creative activity could be tackling a problem from your own curiosity, from a professor’s challenge, or from recognizing needs of the world around you. The topics are endless! Students can present work at national conferences and/or have work published in a scholarly journal. All it takes is your commitment, curiosity, and creativity.
Research and Internships produce students who are better equipped to enter the workforce and produce meaningful results. Research has demonstrated that students who engage in research in their undergraduate curriculum have increased knowledge of the natural world, intellectual and practical skills, as well as personal and social responsibility (Kuh, 2008; Zhao & Kuh, 2004). In addition, research skills have been shown to lead to intellectual growth, academic achievement and professional growth (Lopatto, 2009).
CURC (The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity) is located in Suite 3037 in the Thomas W. Cole Research Center for Science and Technology.
