{"658798":{"#nid":"658798","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Public Policy Undergraduates Travel Europe for Collaborative Research Experience","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUndergraduate student researchers in the School of Public Policy began their summer in style \u0026mdash; by traveling around Europe to research and present alongside graduate students from three countries. Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/julia-melkers\u0022\u003EJulia Melkers\u003C\/a\u003E, director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rocs.spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EResearch on Careers in Science (ROCS) Lab\u003C\/a\u003E in the School of Public Policy, organized the trip, which included stops in Vienna; Bristol, England; and Leiden, Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMelkers led the excursion with her three ROCS Lab undergraduate student researchers: Katie Marchese, a rising fourth-year public policy and history, technology, and society major, rising fourth-year public policy major Rena Marrotta, and rising fourth-year public policy major Lydia Weiderholt.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These three young women are amazing. They have done such great work in the ROCS lab, and I wanted to give them an opportunity to expand their horizons even further,\u0026rdquo; Melkers said. \u0026ldquo;They are such a formative time of their careers; I found it so exciting to see the field of science policy \u0026mdash; and Europe \u0026mdash; through their eyes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0026rsquo;s first stop was at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.revaluation2021.eu\/\u0022\u003EREvaluation \u0026rsquo;22\u003C\/a\u003E, a research and innovation policy evaluation conference in Vienna, where they teamed up with graduate students from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sts.univie.ac.at\/en\/\u0022\u003EDepartment of Science and Technology Studies\u003C\/a\u003E at the University of Vienna. The international group worked together to attend conference sessions, talk to participants, and develop a presentation of their findings. They delivered their thoughts in a closing session of the conference titled, \u0026ldquo;Research Evaluation: Perspectives of the Next Generation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This conference taught me so much about the European framework for evaluation,\u0026rdquo; Marchese said. \u0026ldquo;Prior to this conference, I had no idea of the relative intensity of evaluation, especially for the public sector. I was also introduced to many new ways of thinking and considering research, including increased stakeholder involvement through co-creation and the application of social innovation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom there, the group traveled to England, where Melkers and Gemma Derrick, associate professor at the University of Bristol, had organized an interdisciplinary workshop for early-career researchers. There, the Georgia Tech students presented and discussed their ROCS lab work with graduate students in Bristol\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bristol.ac.uk\/education\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Education\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMarchese and Weiderholt presented their work on Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Online Master of Science in Computing program. Marrotta presented her work on an assessment of institutional culture and student retention in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The National Science Foundation funded their research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Throughout the two weeks, I was constantly reminded of the value of diverse perspectives available throughout the world and the benefits those opinions provide to policymaking,\u0026rdquo; Weiderholt said. \u0026ldquo;They also influenced my outlook on my own career by emphasizing that my degree can be helpful worldwide.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore heading home, the ROCS team made one last stop in the Netherlands, where Melkers had organized another symposium with Thed van Leeuwen, senior researcher in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cwts.nl\/\u0022\u003ECentre for Science and Technology Studies\u003C\/a\u003E at Leiden University. Again, Tech students presented their work alongside graduate students from the host school.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Throughout this trip, my confidence in my ability to present my work grew, and I really enjoyed seeing how my team\u0026rsquo;s presentation prompted interesting discussions and received positive feedback,\u0026rdquo; Marrotta said. \u0026ldquo;This was my first time in Europe, and I am so grateful to have had this amazing experience where I saw new places, learned new things, and met new people.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMelkers added that she hopes that Georgia Tech policy students can continue collaborating with institutions in other countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Everywhere we went, I heard so much positive feedback on our students and their work,\u0026rdquo; she added. \u0026ldquo;Plans are underway to keep the momentum going with similar pairings of Georgia Tech and international students at future conferences. This is a true testament to how well our students truly shined; it was a resounding success!\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E is a unit of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Julia Melkers accompanied students from the Research on Careers in Science Lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor Julia Melkers accompanied students from the Research on Careers in Science Lab."}],"uid":"34946","created_gmt":"2022-06-10 16:20:59","changed_gmt":"2022-06-10 16:20:59","author":"gwyner3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658797":{"id":"658797","type":"image","title":"Julia Melkers and students in her ROCS Lab began the summer traveling around Europe to present their research.","body":null,"created":"1654877363","gmt_created":"2022-06-10 16:09:23","changed":"1654877363","gmt_changed":"2022-06-10 16:09:23","alt":"A group of students and faculty pose together at the REvaluation Conference in Vienna, Austria.","file":{"fid":"249719","name":"SPPINTA 16x9.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SPPINTA%2016x9_2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SPPINTA%2016x9_2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2211680,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/SPPINTA%2016x9_2.png?itok=3bz8sf4v"}}},"media_ids":["658797"],"groups":[{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"190769","name":"Research on Careers in Science Lab"},{"id":"190770","name":"summer trip"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:gwyner3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGrace Wyner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Public Policy | Sam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}