UCLA UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS have the opportunity to participate in the university’s groundbreaking research, and support for that research is at the heart of the UCLA Library’s mission. During Undergraduate Research Week in May, eight students were honored for the excellence of their scholarship with a UCLA Library Prize for Undergraduate Research, which is made possible by a generous endowment from donor Ruth Simon. The cash awards recognized research ranging from a field study of ants in Cameroon to the history of ailments suffered by Chicano/as, the role of Arabization in the Sudanese language, and the legalization of assisted suicide. Recipients drew on the Library’s rich collections and librarians’ expertise to guide them. Bradley Uyemura received first place for his research into the reliability of drug-sniffing dogs. “I continuously stumbled upon new information, sparking additional questions and research that expanded from scientific journals to historical texts, legal reviews, and news articles, all of which were made available through the UCLA Library’s collections,” he explained. “Thanks to these expansive resources, I developed my report into its final and unquestionably stronger form.”

 

Adrienne Uhlyarik, Deven Patel, and Alexa Sheldon prepared for their trip to Cameroon to study the behavior of an ant species by accessing Library resources. “We were drawn primarily to published research papers that we were able to access only due to UCLA Library’s large collection,” said the students. “The organization and ease of accessibility of [the Library’s] online research journal database really drew us in and excited us about conducting research in and of itself.”

Throughout Undergraduate Research Week, more than 800 undergraduates also presented their research findings in largeformat posters. Of those, 139 students received Library grants to cover the posters’ production costs.

 

In her poster application, sociology major Rocio Ambrocio echoed the thoughts of many fellow students: “The supportive staff and the resources available in the UCLA Library have fostered fundamental skills that will help me with future research projects.”