Becoming a WISCURDS project site offers many benefits:
- Fast Access to Research Assistance. Gain access to research assistance that is capable of solving open-ended research problems with manageable startup or maintenance support.
- Support for Expanding Method Sets. WISCURDS supports faculty, industry, and community project proposers in expanding method sets within their research by forming teams of student researchers from majors across campus.
- Reduced Administrative Burden. The program is designed to allow proposers to be “hands off.” The amount of support beyond providing a clear problem description, and access to necessary data can be up to the project proposer. This approach removes a barrier to engaging undergraduates in research due to the administrative and supervisory burdens involved in finding and mentoring students ready for high-quality work.
- Mentorship and Support for Students. Students receive support from WISCURDS program staff. Some students, depending on their skill assessment, may also be required to participate in an on-boarding training. This means project proposers need not be responsible for foundational training in data science or problem-solving methodology.
- Leveraging Data Science Expertise. Students can tackle the hard work of solving your problem or answering your analytical question.
How to Get Involved
The process for a project proposer is designed to be straightforward:
- Interest Form for Project Proposers. Completing this form is the first step in proposing a WISCURDS project. Once you’ve submitted this form, we will meet with you to explore the possibilities and learn if WISCURDS is a good match for your project. If it is, we’ll select a team of student researchers to work with you.
- Problem Description. Project proposers describe the research problem to their team of student researchers. Usually, this involves writing a project description that can be a page or two long. WISCURDS personnel can assist in writing this project description. Project proposers may also need to be available for an interview conducted by their student team and/or answer their questions via email.
- Student-Driven Solution with Program Support. Student researchers rely on each other and the support provided by WISCURDS to solve the problem. After the conclusion of the project, students share a report with code, data, and summaries and explanations of results with the project proposer.
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Adam Ross Nelson at arnelson3@wisc.edu.