By Arpan Josan
At the start of the Spring 2025 semester, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works was renamed the SPARK (Scholars Pursuing Arts, Research and Knowledge) Center for Undergraduates. The new name was inaugurated on Jan. 29 in the Innovation Center in Swirbul Library. The change was designed to help increase visibility and to better attract undergraduate students to scholarly work, said the SPARK Center’s director, Justyna Widera-Kalinowska.
“[The previous name] is a nice, professional name, but it’s not really representing what we want students to get out of that name,” said Widera-Kalinowska, a chemistry professor. “In order to fully represent what my office is supposed to do, we wanted to come up with a better acronym and SPARK was the best one we could come up with because it really matches the mission of the center.”
The SPARK Center is designed to support undergraduate students in launching creative scholarly endeavors. For students to start on their work, they must first find a faculty member who will become their advisor throughout their research. Research and creative works can also be done as a course, but with this choice, a student’s advisor would have to fill out an independent study contract. The research would be within their advisor's current research. Faculty pages on Adelphi’s website often mention professors’ areas of research along with a list of publications.
According to the Adelphi University website, students who engage in research benefit from this as it helps prepare them for graduate school, improve public speaking skills and writing skills, and get their names published in academic journals.
When asked if there is enough engagement with undergraduate students and academic research, Widera-Kalinowska said: “Right now, yes, there is a certain level of interested students that are involved, but we want to expand this. This is why my Center is not only involving undergraduate students in different activities but also involving faculty.”
Students can also take advantage of the seminars that the SPARK Center provides. In the past, it hosted abstract writing clinics to help students craft their thesis statements with the aid of faculty members of the English Department and the Honors College. Professors, as well as Widera-Kalinowska, oversee the whole writing process from start to finish.
Widera-Kalinowska said that the Center plans to hold more of these workshops for students to improve not only their writing skills, but their oral presentations as well. She also highlighted that sometimes students don’t have time to conduct a full research project due to how busy they are. She mentioned how having a course that includes undergraduate research can still be valuable to students because it would expose them to some type of experience.
Katelyn Schwab, a senior psychology major who is a student who does research with the help of the SPARK Center, said in an email that she benefited from the research experience she participated in.
“During my research with Dr. [Chana] Etengoff, I led a qualitative study on mental health experiences in marginalized communities, focusing on the LGBTQ+ population. Through the Emerging Scholars Program and a fellowship from SPARK, I developed the study, created the codebook, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.”
Schwab said her mentor helped her throughout the entire process. Ultimately, her research was presented at Adelphi’s Scholarship & Creative Works conference in April 2024. This year, Schwab will be representing Adelphi at theNational Conference of Undergraduate Research in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 7-9. The SPARK Center will be covering the costs associated with the trip.
“SPARK gave me the tools and resources to bring my research to this level, allowing me to present my work beyond the university and gain experience in professional academic settings,” Schwab said. “Leading this study strengthened my ability to think critically about mental health research, collaborate with others, and communicate findings in a meaningful way.”
Schwab added, “These are all skills that will help me as I work toward becoming a clinical psychologist.”
Verena Faheem, a freshman biology major, said in an email that the SPARK Center has given her valuable information on her future research.
“As a biology major and aspiring medical professional, I have realized the importance of becoming involved in research early to contribute to the future of medicine–and that journey starts here,” Faheem said. “With the information provided, the research pathway has been simplified for me and many others, and I know that with the support the SPARK office will provide when I start research, I will be able to maximize my research experience during my undergraduate studies.”
Hillary Htun, a freshman biology major also shared her experience with the SPARK Center through email. “They've given presentations on how to get started in undergraduate research, how to find a quality research mentor, how to apply for research funding, how to write abstracts, and many more topics,” she said. “The fall semester mostly covered how to get started and apply to research while the spring semester mainly goes over what is actually done during research, and these latter discussions are still in progress.”
Htun recommended the SPARK Center to anyone interested in research. “Whether you're in the sciences, humanities or another field, come to the seminars and join the office's Moodle,” she said. “I strongly believe that through the Center there is nothing to lose and so much to gain, and I promise you won't regret it.”
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