On Saturday, May 19, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) held its annual symposium, where undergraduates present the results of their research or creative activities in a professional setting. At the symposium, Informatics Professor Bonnie Ruberg was awarded the 2018 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research for the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences (ICS). The award recognized her outstanding work in mentoring undergraduate students engaged in research.

“I was honored to learn that I was the recipient,” says Ruberg, who joined the Department of Informatics in 2017. “I’m still pretty new here at UC Irvine, and it was great to hear that the work I’ve been doing with undergraduates has already begun to make an impact.”

The Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research dates back to 1997, when it was started to highlight the accomplishments — and faculty support — of such research. Each year, one faculty member and one student receive the award; you can view the list of all previous winners online. This year, the student award for ICS went to Informatics student Gustavo Figueroa.

The goal of UROP is to integrate undergraduate students into the university’s research culture by providing opportunities for faculty and students to work together.

“Working with undergraduates is one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of my job as a professor,” says Ruberg. “I love meeting students who are already so passionate about their interests, and helping them to explore their ideas. UC Irvine is a big university, and any time I can support an individual student in their intellectual journey, I really value that opportunity.”

— Shani Murray