Undergraduate research provides invaluable career-building experience for students and can provide significant benefits to the research efforts at universities. Indeed many institutions even require some type of independent activity as a graduation requirement for undergraduate students. However, due to their relative inexperience, undergraduate students are perhaps most at risk when working with hazardous materials in laboratories.  So, how can an institution establish guidelines and restrictions that will allow research opportunities for undergraduate students while also minimizing their exposure to hazards? Who should determine what constitutes safe activities for undergraduate researchers? What type of research activities should be limited, or even prohibited, and how should they be limited?  How should undergraduate researchers be defined? What types of supervision should be allowed or required? Are there additional safety measures or trainings beyond the current standards that should apply to undergraduate students? This presentation will discuss these issues and the overall development of an undergraduate researcher safety policy at UCLA.

Development of an undergraduate researcher safety policy

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.