New undergraduate research space aims to bridge gap between academics and industry

For 10 weeks this summer, juniors Anushka Jadhav and Varsha Durai and senior Paige Roach, who are all studying biochemistry, started research projects they will guide 12 new undergraduate researchers through this fall. 

“There really isn’t a big hierarchy, we’re all just students trying to help each other out,” Durai said. “When there’s another student teaching you, you’re kind of on the same wavelength in certain ways and it's easier to connect and ask better questions.”

Their work will be the cornerstone of the new Discovery Lab in the Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building. The lab, launched in May and still in the initial stages, takes up an entire floor and is dedicated to hands-on lab experience so undergraduate students can gain marketable research skills. The lab's ultimate goal is to be entirely led by students. 

The Discovery Lab will host an open house from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The event will include student-led tours and demonstrations as well as showcase ways students and faculty can engage with facility. 

The lab and student peer leaders are guided by Anne Brown, and Rich Helm, both associate professors in biochemistry, and Daniel Sumner, project facilitator in biochemistry. 

Helm said the lab was set up with an emphasis on generating and analyzing quantitative data. This is because as machine learning and artificial intelligence move forward, it is important for students to understand what quality data looks like and how it is generated. Whether they are employed in the sector that generates the data or mines it, they need to be able to identify and work with quality information.

“This was an initiative that came about as the Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building was being created through the Academic Affairs Office to think about a way to bring multiple disciplines, majors, and colleges together to have a space to engage in different kinds of research and investigation and really be a student-focused and student-led environment,” said Brown, also a faculty fellow in the College of Science.

With over 6,000 square feet of space, the Discovery Lab includes two wet labs, a dirty lab, and designated space for microscopy, data analytics, 3D printing, fabrication, and collaboration. It is the first such lab at the university dedicated to the research experience of undergraduate students, according to Brown.

“We are creating a new model for these kinds of spaces because we are doing things differently than traditional capstones or makerspaces,” said Brown, also affiliated with the University Libraries. “We are excited to bring this space to students across all majors and colleges so they can ask questions about the world around them, use equipment that is exceptional, and use that data to make informed decisions on how they can have an impact.”

Administratively housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and supported by the Office of Academic Affairs, the Academy of Experiential Learning, and the Fralin Life Sciences Institute, the Discovery Lab houses $1.4 million of state-of-the-art equipment. The faculty members said it stands as a testament to the university’s commitment to expanding the undergraduate student experience to help make them more competitive in the job market.

“From the start, this space is meant to be interdisciplinary,” said Helm, also director of the Mass Spectrometry Facility in Steger Hall. “Every project in reality has those components built in, just like a business. By default, a project requires input from engineers, from nonscientists, from scientists, from public health workers, and to figure out what’s the best way to tackle a particular problem.”

Jadhav, Durai, and Roach spent summer developing a series of projects that will do just that, with an initial focus on freshwater ecosystem analysis, biosensor development, and microplastics detection. They helped set up the labs, write the standard operating procedures and safety protocols, and received training from the specialized equipment representatives. 

Faculty believe the student-led environment can help cultivate a space in which students can feel free to explore and experiment in a manner that will allow them to build skills transferable to the workforce.

“This is a safe and supportive space where students can work as part of a team solving a problem, critically thinking, and communicating,” Sumner said. “The key is to help build the skills students need to build a bridge between academics and a professional career, even if that means failure. Failure is part of science.”

“Without fail, whenever a faculty member or industry-based scientist walks through this lab, they say one of two things: ‘I wish this was available to me when I was an undergrad, or ‘Can I work here?’” said Helm. “So I think we are moving in the right direction.”