Students from U-M, Wayne State University and Michigan State University will celebrate undergraduate engagement in research March 31 at the first Michigan Undergraduate Research Forum at the State Capitol in Lansing.

Fifty students from across the state will showcase their research, ranging from the study of economic development in Detroit to clinical trials for breast cancer drugs.

The event, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., is free and open to the public.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, U-M-Flint Chancellor Juan Mestas, U-M-Dearborn Provost Robert Simpson, and Michigan State Provost Lou Anna Simon will speak about the vital role research universities play in educating and training future researchers, teachers, policymakers, engineers and corporate leaders. Their remarks also will highlight the important contributions university researchers are making to the quality of life and economic vitality of the state of Michigan.

Posters will be set up in the Capitol Rotunda. There will be opportunities for state legislators to meet with students and learn more about research and the vital role it plays in undergraduate education at Michigan’s universities. Students will meet individually with their state representatives.

The students from U-M’s Ann Arbor campus are current and former participants in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), says Sandra Gregerman, director of UROP. The program began in 1988 as an innovative approach to improving retention and academic achievement of students of color.

“UROP creates research partnerships between undergraduates and faculty researchers campus-wide,” Gregerman says. “From its beginning, the program has won numerous awards for integrating the University’s research and teaching missions, and for successfully improving student retention.”

More information about the forum and UROP is available at http://www.umich.edu/~urop/.