Success at Creighton

Undergraduates Present Their Summer Research

christianburk@creighton.edu — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:21:00 GMT

Research is a big deal at Creighton. It should be. After all, nearly half of Creighton’s undergraduates intend to major in science--FIVE TIMES the national average.

In fact, Creighton was recognized yet again this year by U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges" for undergraduate research and creative projects. Of the 50 universities and colleges listed, many of which are elite institutions, Creighton is the only Jesuit and the only Catholic institution honored.

Recently, eleven undergraduate students who participated in the 2009 Ferlic Summer Research Scholar program showcased their original research at the fourth annual poster presentation on Monday, Nov. 2.

The posters are summaries of what the students learned and discovered over the summer on topics including tooth remineralization, the role of butterflies in the eco-nature of the prairie, and understanding the molecular structure and growth of bacteria.

Creighton Named as Top Producer of U.S. Fulbright Students

christianburk@creighton.edu — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:38:00 GMT

The Fulbright Program has named Creighton University to its list of colleges and universities that produced the most 2009-2010 U.S. Fulbright Fellows.

Creighton placed among the top 10 in the country when its percentage of applicants actually awarded fellowships was compared to the number of students applying. Only seven institutions had a higher percentage of applicants awarded.

Creighton: Incubating Business

christianburk@creighton.edu — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:02:00 GMT

The College of Business at Creighton University is different. At Creighton, we not only teach business . . . we do business. Students get real-world experience outside the classroom, working for and learning at companies of all sizes, from local start-ups to multi-national corporations. Many of these opportunities are right here in Omaha. One such example shows how unique Omaha and Creighton really are.

The Halo Institute was recently featured in the Money section of the Omaha World Herald. The Institute is a non-profit organization that nurtures entrepreneurial talent. The Institute helps people turn their business ideas into reality by taking them through a seven-step process to build a business case for early stage investment. Five businesses are chosen every quarter by the management board of advisors.

The College of Business is involved in the Institute as a founding partner along with Jim Esch, a Creighton business alumnus, and Nick Hudson:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091007/MONEY/710079954

This a great opportunity for the College of Business and its students. There are internships available and opportunities for students to put their business ideas to the test in the Halo Institute. Students can also bring what they learn in the field back the classroom. In fact, three student groups are currently using businesses in the Institute as case studies for class projects.

This is just one example of how Creighton’s College of Business gives students the experience they need to succeed.

Anthony R. Hendrickson, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Business

Nike Internship Leads to Ad Campaign

christianburk@creighton.edu — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:04:00 GMT

My name is Courtney Hanson and I am currently a senior at Creighton University, pursuing a BSBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Management. This past summer I had an opportunity to intern at the NIKE inc. world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, as a Brand and Consumer marketing intern for the Emerging Markets. The 10-week internship was made available through an alum, Mr. Jayme Martin, the Vice President and General Manager of the Emerging Markets. The internship provided me real-world marketing experiences and a chance for me to utilize all the knowledge Creighton University has taught me.

I would like to share with you all a commercial NIKE football just recently launched for the new gear called Nike Pro Combat. One of the projects I worked on with a group of interns this summer was creating a product positioning strategy for Nike Pro Combat in a way that could be best communicated to our target market. We presented the concept "Alter Ego" which is the idea athletes take on an alternative personality on game day. Following our presentation, the concept was immediately incorporated into their marketing strategies and the creation of the Nike Pro Combat--Alter Ego commercial was launched.

Courtney Hanson (left), Creighton senior & Marketing and Entrepreneurship Management major, and Jayme Martin, Vice President and General Manager of Emerging Markets at Nike and Creighton graduate.

This commercial features Adrian Peterson's dynamic talents and powerful on- field persona. At the end of the clip you will notice the 3-D overlay of the Nike Pro Combat Deflex pattern on Peterson's skin. This is symbolic of the implied transformational experience for athletes who wear the product (i.e. their “Alter Ego”).

Watch the Nike Pro Combat – Alter Ego commercial

You can also view it from the Nike Football homepage

Have a great day!

Sincerely,
Courtney Hanson

US News & World Report Ranks Creighton #1

christianburk@creighton.edu — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:25:00 GMT

For the seventh year in a row, Creighton was No. 1 in the rankings of Midwest Master’s universities. The 2010 issue put Creighton No. 1 in the Midwest for "Great Schools, Great Prices" and identified it amongs its "Schools to Watch" for making "the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus, or facilities."

Creighton also made the list of "Best Colleges: Undergraduate research/Creative projects."

On Undergraduate Research in Mathematics

christianburk@creighton.edu — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:18:00 GMT

I am Dr. John Mordeson, Director of the Center for Mathematics of Uncertainty.

In order to support Creighton’s goal to provide research opportunities for undergraduate students, I offer a wide variety of research projects. The research projects are designed to provide students the opportunity to model problems of current and global interest. No prerequisite is needed to begin a research project The mathematics involved in the modeling process is very accessible to the student. Although the problems we will tackle can be quite complicated, the mathematics involved in the initial modeling process is fairly simple.

Although the topics available are diverse, many share a common theme. There is an overarching goal. Each such goal is made up of factors (or other goals). These factors are easily determined. Each factor is made up of sub-factors. The subfactors are based on expert opinion and data. This is where the student will spend much of his/her time, determining the subfactors and then weighting them as to their importance. The weighting of the importance of the factors will be done by experts and by various mathematical techniques. The weights will be used to determine linear equations, where the overarching goal is the dependent variable and the factors and/or subfactors are treated as independent variables. These linear equations will then give a measure of the degree of success of attaining the overarching goal.

Directed arrows from the factors to the overarching goal can be drawn to obtain what is called a directed graph. This can then be followed by drawing directed arrows from the subfactors to the factors resulting in a much larger directed graph. If one considers relationships between the subfactors and factors with directed arrows drawn accordingly, a mathematical structure is thus constructed. This structure is known as a network or a social network or a directed graph. It can be studied in its own right. Listed below are research projects from which the student may select. However, the student is not limited to these projects.

Research Projects

I. Nuclear Stability

Reducing Nuclear Threats and Preventing Nuclear Terrorism:
The overarching goal here is the development of a new strategy to protect the United States, its allies, and its friends from nuclear attack and from coercive pressures by states possessing nuclear weapons. The goals of the strategy include the following goals.

Prevent terrorists from acquiring and using nuclear weapons against the U.S. homeland or against U.S. friends or forces abroad.
Roll back North Korea’s nuclear weapons capability and head off Iranian edfforts to acquire nuclear weapons.
Discourage and prevent additional countries from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Maintain effective military forces, both nuclear and conventional, capable of deterring countries that already possess nuclear (or biological/chemical) weapons from using such weapons against the U.S., its allies, and friends or from using those capabilities to pressure or undermine U.S. friends and interests around the world.
Reduce the likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used whether by Russia, the U.S., or any other nuclear power as a result of accident or misrepresentation.
Ensure that any larger-scale expansion of civil nuclear power programs worldwide will proceed within the framework of new rules and procedures that can minimize the risks of proliferation to additional states and terrorists.

Each of the six above goals is supported by numerous U.S. Policies.

II. Economic Stability

The goal of economic stability is made up of five goals. The goal we will consider is
1. Economic Freedom
The goal of economic freedom is made up of the following ten goals

Business Freedom
Trade Freedom
Fiscal Freedom
Government Size
Monetary Freedom
Investment Freedom
Financial Freedom
Property Rights
Freedom from Corruption
Labor Freedom

III. Smart Power
The goal is to restore America’s inspirational leadership.
The goals making up this overarching goal are as follows:

Alliances, partnerships, and institutions: Rebuilding the foundation to deal with global challenges.
Global development: developing a united approach, starting with public health.
Public diplomacy: Improving access to international knowledge and learning.
Economic integration: Increasing the benefits of trade for all people.
Technology and innovation: Addressing climate change and energy insecurity.

IV. Hearing Impaired Children

Determine which tests of preschool, hard of hearing and deaf children are the best predictors of success when these students are mainstreamed in the public school system.
Determine which tests of preschool, hard of hearing and deaf students are the best indicators of the children in closing the language gap.
LENA Study (Language Environment Analysis). A recording device will be used in a parent-infant program to look for (1) children making more progress in both receptive and expressive language, (2) professionals having better information to use, and (3) to make parents more effective.

V. Applying Fuzzy Mathematics to Formal Modeling in Comparative Politics
Rational choice formal modelers have taken two approaches to address the gap between theory and empirical evidence. The first is to study the effect of different assumptions about the voting behavior of political actors. A second approach is to consider the effect of varying institutional designs. We will take a new approach. We will apply fuzzy set theory to formal models in comparative politics in order to incorporate vagueness and ambiguity about individual preferences. We have two goals: (1) to improve the capacity of formal models to generate a well-defined maximal set and (2) to improve the empirical validity of the predictions made by those models. The approach is similar to that of the uncovered set in that we deal with assumptions about individuals rather than institutions.

VI Creative Economy
The effect of the growing power of ideas and its impact on the economy will be modeled.

VII Health Sciences
Computer assisted medical diagnosis. The aspects, occurrence and confirmability of symptom-disease relationships are documented linguistically by medical experts or on the basis of medical database evaluations.

Diagnostic problem-solving using fuzzy abductive inference with degrees of manifestations.

Students involved in research projects with Dr. Clark and myself have gone on to continue their studies at prestigious schools. For example, two double majors in mathematics and political science have gone to Harvard University, one in graduate school in government and the other to Law School.

Industry is interested in students who have demonstrated the ability to successfully complete research projects of substantial length and to work well with others.

2 from CU on USA Today's Academic Team

christianburk@creighton.edu — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Only 60 students across the country are chosen for USA Today's academic teams. This year, two of them are from Creighton.

Dathe Benissan-Messan and Margaret McGlynn were chosen for USA Today’s 2009 All-USA College Academic Third Team.

Margaret is a junior from Belleville, Ill., majoring in biology. Dathe is a senior biology major from Omaha who also works as a cardiac technician at Creighton University Medical Center.

Easch year, USA Today honors students for outstanding intellectual achievement and leadership. Judges considered grades, leadership, activities, and, most importantly, how students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

More on Margaret and Dathe . . .

More on the USA academic teams
1st Team
2nd and 3rd Academic Teams

2 Creighton Grads Grab Fulbrights

christianburk@creighton.edu — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:56:00 GMT

Two more Fulbrights illuminate how well Creighton prepares students for the day after graduation.

Claire Climer, of Omaha, a 2008 Arts and Science grad, and Sarah E. Daley, O.T.D., of St. Louis, Mo., a 2008 Occupational Therapy grad, have both been named Fulbright scholars for the coming year. Climer has received a 2009-10 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Ecuador, while Daley received a traditional Fulbright grant to Ukraine.

Said Dr. Bridget Keegan, Associate Dean, "What is especially exciting . . . is that these are Fulbrights for non-typical countries of choice - Ecuador and Ukraine."

Dr. Keegan also noted that Fulbrights continue to be awarded to Creighton graduates from a variety of colleges within the university.

"[T]his shows that our university's success with Fulbrights is truly a university affair."

Read more about Claire and Sarah . . .

Student Wins National Scholaraship for Undergraduate Research

christianburk@creighton.edu — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:39:00 GMT

We take undergraduate research pretty seriously here at Creighton. Just how serious? One of our students, Sumit Kar, has received the American Physiological Society (APS) David Bruce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. Kar was featured previously as a finalist for this award, anticipating his presentation in April.

Sumit is a sophomore majoring in biochemistry and biology.

Kar’s research investigates the interactions between the nervous system and the cardiovascular system in diseases such as heart failure, a condition that affects nearly 5 million Americans. He also is studying changes in proteins that may have a role in increasing heart failure, as well as whether exercise can reverse these changes and improve cardiovascular function.

Read more about Kar and this competitive national award.

On Undergraduate Research in the Sciences

christianburk@creighton.edu — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:18:00 GMT

I am Dr. Julie Soukup, a biochemistry professor in Creighton's chemistry department.

There are many opportunities to be involved in research here at Creighton and that is a unique feature to our smaller school. What I enjoy most (and I think the students do too) is that I get to work side-by-side with them in my research lab, teaching them about experimental procedures, the reasons for doing certain types of experiments and how our results will fit into the entire field of research.

There are many undergraduate science faculty with active research groups and many of them have freshman through seniors working with them in their labs. Currently I have 3 freshmen, 1 sophomore, 5 juniors and 2 seniors in my lab. My students help perform experiments, quantitate data, design experiments, and get to present their results at regional and national scientific meetings. My two seniors are getting ready to attend the West Coast Biological Sciences Undergraduate conference in San Diego to present their results. My two seniors and five juniors just presented posters on their projects at Creighton's University Research Day and two of them won awards for "Best Poster". Many of the Creighton students that perform undergraduate research will be authors on one or more scientific publications before they graduate. Of my two seniors one already has a publication and they both are authors on a paper I am currently writing on their results. One of my seniors will attend graduate school at Harvard next year and the other is deciding between offers for M.D. only programs (at Harvard, Creighton, and more) versus M.D./Ph.D. programs (at Univ. Texas-Southwestern, Creighton, and more).

A few other pieces of information . . . many undergraduate science faculty collaborate with faculty in Creighton’s medical school, and, therefore, students also have the opportunity to work in labs in the medical school. In addition, Creighton has over 20 paid undergraduate summer research fellowships supported by (1) the College of Arts & Sciences, (2) grants from the National Institutes of Health, and (3) a private donation from a Creighton alum, Dr. Randy Ferlic. Many of the faculty have projects focused on biomedical research. My lab investigates antibiotic resistance and is trying to develop novel antibiotics. Other faculty are designing improved dental fillings in collaboration with faculty in Creighton's dental school, another faculty member is studying the effects of nicotine on the developing neural system, and yet another is studying bone cells using biophysics with the intent of possibly being able to detect bone cancer at an early stage, and the list goes on.

I hope this has given you a small sampling of the exciting world of
undergraduate research at Creighton. A few other websites you could visit
are:

http://chemistry.creighton.edu/~jksoukup/research.html
http://chemistry.creighton.edu/~mhulce/UGResearch/UG%20Science%20Research.html
http://chemistry.creighton.edu/~mhulce/BRIN/brin.htm

I would love to answer any questions you may have about Creighton, undergraduate research, premed coursework/preparation, etc.

To do so, please leave a comment on this blog.