KU students launch Kansas Research Collective for undergraduates

The Kansas Research Collective is a newly formed student-run organization implementing peer-to-peer support for undergraduate researchers at the University of Kansas.

The KRC has two missions, both meant to foster a research community at KU by providing peer mentorship and a platform for students to discuss and showcase their work. 

• They support prospective researchers in their efforts to connect with faculty mentors, develop research questions, and gain insight into the research process. 
• They support current researchers in their efforts to improve applications for competitive fellowships, develop conference and campus presentations, and publish their work in peer-reviewed journals. 

The KRC holds weekly meetings on Sundays from 3-4pm in Watson Library’s Clark Instruction Center. Some of their upcoming meetings include: 

• Welcome to Research & Fellowships – Monday, August 31st 
  • Learn about research and fellowship opportunities at KU from CURF staff and current undergraduate researchers. 
  • Network with other students, undergraduate researchers, and faculty in your field. 
• Welcome to KRC – Wednesday, September 2nd 
  • Meet the Kansas Research Collective ambassadors in a come-and-go event. 
  • Create a plan for the semester to get a clear pathway to conducting research. 
• Finding a Research Mentor & Cold Emailing 101 – Sunday, September 13th  
  • Find what your research interests are and identify faculty members you can reach out to. 
  • Learn how to cold email a professor to find research opportunities and draft emails to your identified faculty. 
• Becoming a Successful Applicant – Sunday, September 20th 
  • Hear from past winners of nationally competitive fellowships about how to build a successful application. 
  • Create a personal timeline for planning your future applications. 
  • Brainstorm strategies for finding mentors, curating application materials, and demonstrating research fit. 
• Methods Roundtable – Sunday, September 27th 
  • Understand a diverse set of methods for conducting research, analyzing data, and communicating results. 
  • Learn how to write a methods section of a paper and see examples. 
  • Brainstorm methodological approaches for your UGRA proposal or other projects. 

Meet the Ambassadors! 

KRC Ambassadors, a group of undergraduate researchers heavily invested in supporting students at all stages of their research career, lead student outreach efforts by hosting office hours, presenting informational slideshows in classes, and tabling across campus. 

Eli Cochrane 
Co-Founder, Co-President, & Ambassador 
Psychology, Data Science, & Political Science 
 
Eli’s research in the LEMMA Lab at KU uses experiments and computational natural language processing to understand political psychology, especially within online extremist communities.

Emily Messenger 
Co-Founder, Co-President, & Ambassador 
Applied Computing in Biology 

Emily’s research in the Precision Neural Dynamics Lab at KUMC and the Advanced Neuroimaging Lab at Children’s Mercy analyzes neuroradiology and neurosurgery imaging techniques in patients.

Levi O’Connor 
Co-Founder, Vice President, & Ambassador 
Psychology, minor in Philosophy

Levi’s research in the Cultural Psychology Research Group at KU uses qualitative and quantitative techniques to model identity-relevant responses to sociocultural change.

Carter Gray 
Co-Founder & Ambassador 
Applied Computing in Chemistry 

Carter’s research in the Swint-Kruse Lab at KUMC uses experimental and computational methods to understand the sequence, structure, and function relationships of proteins.

Hannah Cleveland 

Co-Founder & Ambassador 
Applied Computing with a concentration in Chemistry 
 
Hannah’s research in the Swint-Kruse Lab at KUMC uses molecular modeling and bioinformatics tools to understand how single amino acid substitutions impact protein stability. 

Liz Mays 

Ambassador 
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology 
 
Liz’s research in the Hileman Lab at KU uses evolutionary statistical modeling and molecular techniques to study the evolution of flower color in the genus Penstemon. 

Owen Dalton 

Ambassador 
Pre-Medicine Microbiology, minor in Economics 
 
Owen’s research in the Graham Lab at KU uses open-source medical imaging programs to analyze trends of cranial size among Peromyscus maniculatus lineages hailing from varying altitudes.

Get Involved 

KRC Ambassadors host office hours every week, where students can talk to them about their research experience and ask questions about how to get involved, find opportunities, apply for funding, or otherwise further their research career.  

• Tuesdays 2-4pm in Summerfield 203 
• Wednesdays 2-4pm in Nunemaker for the Honors Research ELE 
• Fridays 10am-12pm in Summerfield 203 

More information about KRC is available on CURF’s website at https://curf.ku.edu/about-kansas-research-collective. 

If you’re interested in joining the Kansas Research Collective, visit one of their weekly meetings listed above, follow their Instagram @ku.researchcollective, and join their GroupMe available in their Instagram bio!