The Human Computer Interaction research site is one of many summer research programs at UMBC. You will have many opportunities to interact with students in these programs during weekly lunch time meetings, special events and in campus housing.

There will be other undergraduate research programs on campus: "MARC U*STAR" (Minority Access to Research Careers and Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research) is sponsored by NIH; the Howard Hughes Medical Institute summer research in biomedical research; summer research in policy sciences; summer research in physics sponsored by NASA, a NSF REU Site in Structure and Function of Biological Molecules and the NIDDK-funded BSURE (Biomedical Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences) Program. All of the programs bring students from campuses throughout the region, and in some cases, throughout the nation. The seventh undergraduate research program on campus is the Department of Education’s McNair Scholars Program which has a Summer Research Institute for students at UMBC participating in that program.

UMBC has been recognized nationally for its commitment to involving undergraduates in meaningful research. In 1996, the campus was among the first institutions in the country to receive the White House Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, largely reflecting the success of UMBC’s highly competitive Meyerhoff Scholars Program for high-achieving minority students in science. Building on the abilities of these bright undergraduates, the Meyerhoff Program has become a national model for producing young scientists and engineers. At the heart of its success is a heavy emphasis on successful student-faculty mentoring and on substantive undergraduate research experiences. These experiences have frequently resulted in the students co-authoring articles in scholarly scientific journals.

Another campus resource that will be valuable for participants is the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), which was established at UMBC in July 1998 to address the under-representation of women as developers of information technology. The Center also addresses the problem that women are often not well served as IT users. CWIT provides a supportive network to encourage women to remain in a career that is predominantly male.