PUI=a category within academia, RUI=a category of NSF grants, phooey=what we say when realizing a session already started.
The Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI) Networking Event had a great turnout and fruitful discussion Saturday morning. This event is the opportunity for faculty from institutions that award no (or few) PhDs in the sciences to connect and share ideas for maintaining successful research programs. There were about 60 faculty members, 20 young scientists exploring PUI faculty options, and 10 representatives from ASPB or funding agencies.
ASPB has been supporting PUI networking for nearly 20 years and the group continues to provide an opportunity for talking about maintaining successful plant science research at PUIs. This year the group talked in small groups about best practices in managing time, getting funding, and getting recognition for our research with undergraduates. Several funding agency officers shared helpful tips for supporting our research, including the RUI, which is the Research at Undergraduate Institutions NSF program that was designed to support high-quality undergraduate-faculty collaborative research. The group also explored ways of increasing visibility for high-quality PUI research.
