Eleven undergraduates from universities across the country spent nine weeks this summer working with UD’s Disaster Research Center (DRC), the first social science research center in the world devoted to the study of disasters.

The students, eight sophomores and three juniors from UD and nine other institutions, participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. It was the second year the DRC hosted the program in which students get hands-on research training in handling the social science aspects of natural and technological disasters and other community-wide crises. The center, established at Ohio State University in 1963, moved to UD in 1985.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, as well as UD’s Office of the Provost, College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, the program will be funded through summer 2007. During their stay this year, the students worked with leading scholars and researchers on projects exploring such issues as disaster mitigation, warnings and technology, disaster vulnerability and preparedness, response and recovery.

A national and multidisciplinary group of leading disaster researchers and practitioners further enriched the program by visiting and lecturing on their areas of expertise, and a series of professional development and social-cultural activities complemented the trainees’ overall education and training at UD.

“A range of activities, including a training session on ethical standards in conducting research with human subjects, [gave] the visiting students a broad perspective on the social science aspects of disaster research,” said Havidán Rodríguez, vice provost for academic affairs and DRC director. In addition, Mary Martin, assistant provost of graduate studies, met with the students to discuss conducting graduate research at the University.

Because the DRC has done groundbreaking work on the societal and organizational aspects of disasters and has had a strong impact on the growth and development of the field of disaster research for the past 43 years, Rodríguez said, students enrolled in the program have a unique opportunity to work in a challenging, dynamic and intellectually stimulating environment with key disaster researchers.

“This is a very select group of undergraduate students, so we are very pleased with their level of scholarship and academic commitment,” he said. “Additionally, the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the DRC is the only program of its kind in the country focusing on disaster research in the social sciences. We are very fortunate to have this program here at UD, and we think it’s because of the knowledge that people have about the DRC and the caliber of research we do.”

As part of their experience, students developed a research proposal and engaged in independent research projects under the guidance of faculty mentors. They also spent four days attending the Natural Hazards Center’s 31st annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Boulder, Colo.