The Office of Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts and Sciences and Honors College Assembly will be hosting “Networking and Interviewing for Research Positions,” one event in a series of research workshops. The event will take place Wednesday at 5 p.m. in room 309 of the Ferguson Center, Ann Webb, assistant dean of student services in the College of Arts and Sciences, said.

The main goal of the workshop is to adequately prepare students for future employment. Interviews are an important part of finding jobs in today’s economy, Webb said, and without proper interview training, a graduate cannot expect to get his dream job.

Mary Lloyd, assistant director of the Career Center, will be leading the workshop. As an expert in interview skills, Lloyd will offer helpful advice for students who attend the event.

“Working with a faculty member in research, whether for pay or academic credit, is also a ‘job’ of sorts and often involves interviewing,” Webb said. “If students are not well-prepared for interviews, they can reduce their chances of success.  So we want students who want to do research to be successful in finding positions — thus the workshop is a useful thing for students to do.”

In the upcoming months other workshops will be offered covering various subjects, from poster presentations to writing abstracts, according to information provided by the College of Arts and Sciences. Many of the events will occur more than once in order to give interested students multiple chances to attend a specific program.

“Workshops of this sort are a pretty normal part of the program of offices of undergraduate research at large universities,” Webb said. “Some of the topics seemed reasonable to me — like the one that is a student panel on why the students became involved and what is valuable to them about undergraduate research. Others, like the abstract writing workshop, are very successful on other campuses, and I figured it would be helpful to our students.”

Any undergraduate student interested in a workshop topic may attend the event. Though some of the workshops are aimed to help students already involved in research, other events can help undergraduates become more involved on campus.

After attending these events and perfecting their projects, students currently working on research projects will feature their work at the fourth annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference on April 11, according to the UA Office for Research.

“The event presents a wide variety of research and creative activities ranging from mechanical engineering to the performing arts,” the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference website states. “The Conference gives the contributing students practical experience in defending or performing their work. Judges evaluate the presentations and the winning entries receive cash prizes.”