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Program hopes to encourage scientific research  Thirty-seven rising seniors from colleges throughout the east will get a taste of biomedical research this summer in the labs of MUSC through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.  The 10-week program, offered by the College of Graduate Studies, encourages students to choose careers in scientific research. Students Maria Shaker, Brandon Steelman and Aisha Walker, left photo, discuss their research projects.Right photo: Clayton Davis, left, student, spends a moment with Dr. Eleanor Spicer, professor, Department of Biochemistry. Program organizers hope that exposure to direct, hands-on experiences with research before their final year of college will help students make decisions about graduate school on a sound factual basis. At the beginning of their summer study program, students choose a faculty mentor of an investigative research project to guide them in learning scientific techniques. At the end of the program, students will participate in oral presentations of their research projects to their peers and the faculty.  Students are encouraged to participate in the Annual University Student Research Day. Dr. Henry Martin, director of student programs, College of Graduate Studies, welcomes both faculty and under-graduate participants to the Summer Undergraduate Research Program. The reception was held at the Wickliffe House on June 12. The Summer Undergraduate Research Program is directed by Dr. Henry Martin III and Hester Young, director of student programs, College of Graduate Studies. The program continues to reach a record high number of acceptances—up from 12 at its beginning in 1980. The program is supported by the MUSC Colleges of Medicine and Graduate Studies, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and through grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the South Carolina Universities Research and Education Foundation. The Summer Undergraduate Research Program is one of three Summer Research Recruitment Programs coordinated through the College of Graduate Studies. Other programs are the Summer Health Professions Program and the Governor's Summer High School Program.