AnaElda Ramos | Illustration Editor

According to a WashU Senior Survey, nearly 60% of students in the College of Arts & Sciences participate in undergraduate research. These students have two opportunities every year to present their work at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Outside of these two events, however, it can be difficult for undergraduates to share their research and engage with the research of their peers. 

To fix this, three Arts & Sciences student researchers founded The Washington University Journal for Undergraduate Research (WUJUR). The student-run organization aims to showcase undergraduate research from every academic discipline and create a more permanent platform to display the research. Their first-ever edition will be released by the end of this semester.

WUJUR’s efforts to humanize research comes at a critical moment, when the looming threat of  federal funding cuts puts research programs across the university at risk of shutting down. Senior Daniel Chen, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of WUJUR,  explained that despite the uncertainty of these cuts, WUJUR serves as a reminder that researchers are still striving to create inclusive communities.

“Whether it is about making research accessible, breaking down barriers to entry, or humanizing the people behind the research, all of those are things we can do uniquely as a new journal,” Chen said.

The idea for WUJUR, now a SU-recognized club, has always been to cover research across all academic disciplines, from STEM to the humanities. Junior Cedric Bruges, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director alongside Chen, emphasized that WUJUR is open to all kinds of research.

“We accept work from every field of study,” said Bruges. “And we try to accept a wide range of submissions — anything from poster to paper length, because we want to encourage as many undergraduate researchers to share their work as possible.”

In this way, WUJUR will be an accessible journal for undergraduates who may not have full-length papers, making WUJUR unique, even compared to undergraduate journals at other institutions. While they have taken inspiration from more established journals at universities like Harvard and Duke, WUJUR’s leadership emphasizes that this journal will be distinct in both style and content. 

“When you look at journals from other institutions, they often look like walls of text,” said Chen. “One way that we can make it more readable for the audience — as well as rewarding for those who publish — is through features.”

As Chen explained, the features would highlight the students behind the research. “It would be a brief story about how this person got involved in research, what research means to them, and some of their favorite or least favorite moments.” 

It may sound a bit strange to highlight the students’ least favorite moments but, according to Bruges, an important part of WUJUR’s mission is to demystify what the struggles of research look like, specifically for undergraduates. 

“It will demonstrate to students that there are setbacks and challenges along the way,” Bruges said. “But you can find other people who have gone through these struggles, and see that ultimately, the work is worth it. These students are contributing to knowledge in the world, and humanizing it in that way is really helpful.” 

Senior Jeremy Cho, also one of the club’s three co-founders and the Treasurer, expressed his goal to inspire readers to take on their own research. “After we’ve published, we want to have these more hidden works motivate future students to pursue research across disciplines,” said Cho. “We make sure that it is not just focused on science fields, but that it will branch out to the greater WashU community.”

Cho’s sentiment was shared by all three co-founders of WUJUR: “We want to provide an opportunity for students who are interested in research, to serve as a stepping stone into their future,” said Burges. “It will allow students to share their work, get accustomed with professional standards, and help inspire others.”