Summer Science Research Program (SSRP)

Ohio Wesleyan's unique 10-week Summer Science Research Program (SSRP) offers students the opportunity to carry out cutting-edge research side by side with faculty mentors. Students and faculty are fully engaged partners in research projects that ignite students' passion for learning and give them the confidence to explore areas that fire their imaginations.

Students in the program learn immediately that scientific research is different from what they experience in their classroom labs. It's more surprising. More exciting. More challenging. More frustrating. More fun. And ultimately, much more rewarding.

At the conclusion of the program, the student participants display their project results at the Patricia Belt Conrades Summer Science Research Symposium. This poster-format gala event allows students to share their excitement about what they've learned and also gives them valuable practice in explaining research results to a wide spectrum of visitors. And that's a very necessary part of being a working scientist.

But the Symposium may be only the beginning. Students often present their Summer Science Research Program findings at state, regional, and national meetings of prestigious scientific associations. Their results are frequently published in major scientific journals. They gain priceless presentation and publication experience as they become known to the wider scientific community. What happens at the Summer Science Research Program is often the genesis of a lifelong, satisfying, and meaningful career.

Learning By Doing

Because process and methodology are critical to research, it is important—and enlightening—to understand what and how OWU students are learning in science laboratories every day. 

 

Coordinating OWU's SSRP

Meet Ohio Wesleyan University zoology and botany-microbiology professor Laura Tuhela-Reuning.

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Native Bacteria of Birds and Soil

Soil—whether found in Ohio or halfway around the world—contains bacteria which can be picked up and distributed by birds—and degrade their feathers.

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Robust Catalytic Oxidants

Water is important to all our lives, as is the constant need for pure water, free of toxic chemicals and pathogens.

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Light and Gravity Influence Plant Growth

Plants are very sensitive to their environment, and constantly integrate cues such as light, gravity, and humidity to direct their growth.

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From Student to Researcher

Summer Science Research (SSRP) Experience

Age Related Recall Fluctuations

Researchers at Ohio Wesleyan University have studied fluctuations in recall access for more than two decades.

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Repeatability , Consistency in Fish

Rsearchers at OWU are looking at the behavior of the three-spined stickleback fish to determine levels of consistence and repeatability.

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