The Highlander Research Rookies program engages highly motivated first- and second-year students in faculty-mentored, hands-on research and creative scholarly activities. Students are selected as Highlander Research Rookies through a competitive process. These talented students benefit from being paired with a faculty mentor and work alongside them for up to 10 hours per week. These interactions allow our Research Rookies to explore topics while developing relationships with expert faculty in their identified areas of interest as well as gain valuable research and critical-thinking skills.
“Research Rookies is an example of the close student-faculty collaborative work that makes a Radford University education so valuable. Connecting our first- and second-year students so deeply and so early with faculty and their disciplines creates meaningful academic connections that are the root of all student success.” - Jeanne Mekolichick, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Academic Programs
“Not all universities open up these type of research opportunities to all departments and majors. They’re often targeted toward a specific major. We want all students, no matter their backgrounds, to have the opportunity to experience undergraduate research.” Joe Wirgau, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS), Director of the Highlander Research Rookies Program
Highlander Research Rookies will have the opportunity to:
- Learn what scholarship looks like in their area of interest
- Gain experience working alongside talented faculty
- Gain skills from professional development activities
- Present their research at the Student Engagement Forum
- Earn a stipend for the Fall and Spring semesters
When you support the Research Rookies Program Fund, you help outstanding students take study within their preferred topics to the next level with hands-on research alongside expert faculty where they can develop professional skills within their field.
If the Research Rookies Fund is the first to receive $1,910 in contributions during the Highlander10 Challenge, the Radford University Foundation provide us with an additional $1,000 of funding. So please consider making your gift today. Competition ends on December 1.
