WYOMISSING, Pa. — Many students at Penn State Berks take advantage of the opportunity to conduct research, working one-on-one with faculty members on campus. To celebrate these students’ success, Penn State Berks recently held its first Berks Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium (BURCS) on April 25. The next day, students presented at the Higher Education Council of Berks County (HECBC) Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference, hosted by Reading Area Community College.
The inaugural BURCS included 72 presentations by Penn State Berks students, including five oral and 67 poster presentations. Topics ranged from running habits and injury patterns in parents using running strollers, to the effect of alcohol and a molecule known as the parathyroid hormone-related protein on the proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells, to tracking superbugs and antibiotic resistance in the Blue Marsh Watershed, to generational differences in online dating in technology use and relationship expectations, just to name a few.
The BURCS was organized by Justin DiAngelo, associate professor and program chair of the biochemistry and molecular biology degree program, and Allison Altman Singles, associate professor of kinesiology and mechanical engineering. Both DiAngelo and Singles have extensive experience working with students on research.
Penn State Berks students were also well represented at HECBC conference with 79 student presentations, including six oral and 73 poster presentations. The annual HECBC Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference allows students from Berks County and beyond to share their research and creativity with each other and the community. The conference is open to any undergraduate student seeking an opportunity to share their expertise with other scholars.
For more information on BURCS, contact DiAngelo at [email protected] or Altman Singles at [email protected].