Research

BLOG: Five Takeaways From a Week Embedded in UK Research

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Following is a blog from Information Specialist Whitney Harder of the University of Kentucky Public Relations and Marketing.

July 15, 2015

As a former (and recent) student at UK, I knew like everyone else on campus the significance placed on research here — the special mission associated with being the flagship, land-grant and research university of the Commonwealth.

I once briefly participated in research with a project focused on young voters and I suppose the research papers throughout my undergrad career gave me a glimpse into the realm. But I hadn't immersed myself in research at UK until after I graduated and began my career here.

I started telling the stories of those at UK who devote their careers and their education to solving problems, to discovery and ingenuity. And one of those ongoing stories led to an interesting opportunity. I was invited to experience an internationally known research project up close, and in Paris, France.

After traveling to Paris with UK's "ancient scrolls team," including Brent Seales, professor and chair in the Department of Computer Science, and several students and staff members, I learned more than just a thing or two about the revolutionary computer software the team is working on (it can read damaged ancient scrolls without opening them?!). I witnessed research in action, and found out that much of it is not what I expected.

Here are a few takeaways from my week embedded in a UK research project:

1. Research is not confined to the lab. A lot is accomplished in the lab, but some of the most rewarding research experiences for faculty and students are out of the lab, on outings to new places, with new people and perspectives. The research experience usually leads to a host of other fresh experiences for everyone involved (ex: traveling to Paris, France, and presenting at Google).

2. "The lab" itself can be many things. Sure, there are labs with microscopes and beakers and test tubes, but a lab can also be a room full of computers with advanced computational infrastructure. And sometimes the lab is the hotel conference room.

3. Successful research is always collaborative. Projects at UK often include faculty members from many different departments, students with a range of interests, and collaborators from other institutions, countries and professions. The ancient scrolls project alone has connected physicists, papyrologists and computer scientists in Italy, France and the U.S.

4. Students are in the thick of it. At UK, "research assistants" are traveling the world to present and work on their research, not just taking notes. Students are spending their time finding solutions to real problems — testing original ideas, sometimes failing, retrying, and eventually figuring something out that launches the whole project to the next step. And they take ownership of it. But that's only part of it. They're applying class concepts to hands-on work; meeting key players in their fields; getting internships and jobs following their projects; the list goes on.   

5. Authentic research takes a lot of time, effort and resources. A lot. I knew research, especially some of the high-caliber work we have going on at UK, was made possible by large grants. But I didn't know how painstaking the process was to receive funding and administer it. And research, if done right, doesn't happen overnight. Completing a research project can take months, years, sometimes decades. That's when we have to step back and remember that the results are worth waiting for.

With the ancient scrolls project I saw what I think every research project aims to do; to pull diverse capabilities together to provide a solution with a meaningful impact.

Those experts were not only from completely different fields of research, but from different countries and cultures. In Paris, a French papyrologist was trained in using the software by the team of American computer scientists, and at the same time five hours away, Italian physicists were working on gathering data for the project.

Inside the oldest public library in France, the researchers came together to view up close a scroll in the collection. While one explained the history of it, another compared it to his 3-D-printed model, and for the students, the experience gave them purpose and perspective for their work.

"It was eye-opening," one said later on. Another student, who worked on the project as a freshman, said she never thought she would be involved in this type of work this early on.

I touched on it a bit before, but their research involvement is really having tangible impacts on these students. One team member told me if she hadn't landed a spot on the team, she might not have continued on to graduate school at UK. Another, who graduated in May, starts his career as a software engineer at Microsoft this month.

Obviously these students are finding success because of many factors, but I can't help but think their unique experiences at UK and in research like this have something to do with it.