For the fourth year in a row, Hope holds five grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program.

For the fourth year in a row, Hope holds five grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program.

Although complete national data for 2001 is not yet available, last year Hope held more of the grants than any other liberal arts college in the country and more than all but about a dozen other institutions of any sort nationwide, including major research universities.

Hope holds the awards in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics and engineering.  It is the 10th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

Through Hope's grants, undergraduate students from both Hope and elsewhere are conducting research full-time with Hope faculty members for eight to 10 weeks this summer, and are receiving stipends as well as support for housing, travel and other expenses. They are working with students whose summer research at Hope is supported in other ways.

The department of biology's grant is supporting 10 students working with nine faculty members for 10 weeks.  Some of the projects include the regulation of lipid production in yeast, the effects of hormones on water balance, regulation of uptake of neurotransmitters in the brain, understanding evolutionary relationships of plants, and the effect of hybridization on species definition in plants. The three-year, $156,000 grant is being administered by Dr. Virginia McDonough and Dr. Timothy Evans, who are both assistant professors of biology.

The department of chemistry's grant is supporting eight students working among 11 faculty for up to 10 weeks.  The research projects include PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission) analysis of environmental samples, synthesis of polymers and studies of atmospheric compounds. The three-year, $139,119 grant is being administered by Dr. Joanne Stewart, professor of chemistry.

The department of computer science's grant is supporting eight students working with four faculty for 10 weeks. The projects include "Visualization of Program Execution," "Algorithm Animations with Linked Lists," "User Interface Design Tools," "Reference Material Library Support on Handheld Computers," "A Parallel Processing Platform from Networked Handheld Computers," "Handheld Interactive Textbook" and "One-to-Many Cryptography." The three-year, $143,213 grant is being administered by Dr. Herbert Dershem, professor of computer science and chair of the department.

The department of mathematics's grant is supporting nine students working with two faculty members for eight weeks. The projects include "Mathematical Modeling with Dynamical Systems" and "Non-Commutative Ring Theory." The four-year, $120,000 grant is being administered by Dr. Timothy Pennings, associate professor of mathematics.

The department of physics and engineering's grant is supporting eight students working with seven faculty for 10 weeks. The seven projects include "High Energy Phenomena in Neutron Star Magnetospheres," "Linear and Non-linear Control Algorithms," "Modeling of Carbon Nanotube Composites," "Nuclear Reaction Studies with Radioactive Particle Beams," "Development of Laboratory Projects for Non-Engineers" and "Enhancing Commercial Aircraft Survivability." The two-year, $90,251 grant is being administered by Dr. John Krupczak Jr., who is an associate professor of engineering.