Crazy for Lag-Time
Peter Pappas, Professor of Mathematics
URSI director Peter Pappas promised two of his URSI students-Rachel Betz '05 and Sandy Eckel '04-that he'd give them anything they wanted if they could prove the conjecture they'd developed about a new class of objects called lag-time torus knots. Turns out that what they wanted was for Pappas to die his hair purple. So he did. Read more.
URSI Clips
- Forum to look at saving stream By Michael Mayfield
Multidisciplinary URSI study of the Casper Kill, a 21-mile stream that flows through Dutchess County, is presented at a public forum.
Poughkeepsie Journal, December 21, 2006
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com - Robots' Swimming Test By Laura Blackburn
Professor John Long and his student research team evolved a population of Tadros (tadpole robots) over 10 generations in order to test some ideas about adaptation in vertebrates.
First published online November 17, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 0i (2006)
http://jeb.biologists.org - Chemicals stir health concerns By Janet Gray
Professor Janet Gray and her student research team seek to educate the public about the link between environmental chemicals and breast cancer.
Poughkeepsie Journal, October 29, 2006
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com
What Is URSI??
Vassar's Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI) is an intensive 10-week summer program in which Vassar students explore original hands-on scientific research under faculty direction. URSI participants are engaged in the entire research process: they learn to formulate hypotheses, review scientific literature, develop experimental protocols, handle major instrumentation, gather data, analyze results, and present their findings.