On August 14, Redeemer University celebrated its 20th anniversary edition of the Undergraduate Research Symposium, highlighting the academic excellence and calibre of ongoing research at Redeemer in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences.
Students presented on their summer research with faculty in the Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Health Sciences, Mathematics, Media and Communication Studies, and Music and Worship programs.
The symposium is an annual highlight of summer research. It is a delight to see the depth of student scholarship exploring the complex intricacies of God’s world
Topics in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics ranged from studying the kinetics of DNA, to computational modeling of nerve behaviour, improving understanding of a paradox in networks, predicting chemical structures, and the long-term analysis of local watersheds. Topics in the Social Sciences included exploring the pedagogical nature of worship and capturing media representation of immigrant experiences.
“The symposium is an annual highlight of summer research,” noted Dr. Kevin Vander Meulen, director of research and professor of mathematics. “It is a delight to see the depth of student scholarship exploring the complex intricacies of God’s world.”
The 20th symposium also featured guest alumni speakers who reflected on how research at Redeemer shaped the trajectory of their career paths. While the symposium is in its 20th year, the tradition of full-time summer undergraduate research hosted at Redeemer extends back to 1999, now at 185 projects in total.
Summer research has been supported in part by The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Mitacs and the Canada Water Agency.