Undergraduate research opportunities program

Abstract information:

Abstracts must include the nature and significance of the topic, the investigative strategy, the nature of the results and conclusions. The abstract should summarize the substantive results of the work and not merely list topics to be discussed. Submissions must be reviewed and submitted with the student's faculty sponsor's approval. Students submitting in the performing and visual arts must submit an abstract or artist's statement as well as the additional materials described above.

Science sample abstract:

THERMAL DECOMPOSITION KINETICS OF AN ENERGETIC NICKEL COMPOUND
Bradley Q. Warlick, (Dr. Charles Wight), Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

The decomposition kinetics of Nickel(II)-hydrazine-2,3-pyrazinedicarboxylate "3H2O were characterized through the use of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), as well as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). These techniques were used to determine the compound's thermal stability and total energy release as a function of both time and temperature. By conducting several series of experiments at different heating rates, we were able to extract robust values of the decomposition kinetic parameters with the use of an advanced isoconversional method. The analysis reveals that the initial steps in the compound's decomposition are due to a reversible dehydration. Based on an analysis of TGA values, the activation energy for the main exothermic step in the decomposition was found to be ~135 kJ/mol. DSC values confirmed this finding to within 7 percent.

Humanities sample abstract:

A NEW VIEW OF WHY PROMISES OBLIGATE
Paul P. Arnold (Dr. Leslie Francis), Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

My research with Dr. Francis has focused on two related concepts: promises and expectations. Promises are a core concept in any complete moral theory. Almost all the great moral philosophers have offered an account of how promises obligate, as have most modern philosophers. Some have argued that promises obligate because of social convention. Others have argued that promises obligate for reasons of utility. Yet others have argued from Kantian perspectives. The varied answers to this problem are logical extensions of the moral framework the various authors work within.

My research offers a new view of promises. It does this by redefining the source of the obligations that promises generate. Unlike the traditional views, which identify the source of obligations with either the promisor or the larger social relationship, my view begins with the expectations of the promisee. My research defends this perspective as a better one than that offered by the traditional accounts. It also shows how this new view solves several of the problems the traditional accounts encounter.

This project is part of a larger philosophical inquiry into why expectations matter. Such an inquiry is of great theoretical and practical interest for both moral philosophers and legal contract theorists

Other excellent examples of abstracts can be found in our University of Utah Undergraduate Research Abstracts Journal located at:

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/UROP