Cornell University has established the Cornell Research Scholars Program to help recruit the best and brightest undergraduate students with special research opportunities and financial support, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced today (Oct. 25).

Rawlings announced the establishment of the Research Scholars Program, with a gift of $5.45 million over five years, in his annual fall State of the University address to trustees, alumni and friends in the Alice Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall, on campus. The program will provide exceptional students with the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty mentor on research projects and to be paid for that work.

"This fund will help Cornell attract and retain the very brightest, most committed students who are choosing from among the best universities in the nation," Rawlings said. "Cornell's excellence is heavily dependent upon the quality of its students and its faculty, and this unique program , involving undergraduates in the vital research of the university, will benefit not only our students and our faculty who participate in the program, but the entire university as well."

Each year, the university will enroll up to 75 top students -- among the best applicants to each college -- in the Cornell Research Scholars Program. The four-year award will offer special research opportunities and financial awards to a total of 300 students, freshman through senior, at the end of four years.

The program will complement the highly successful Cornell Tradition Program, now in its 14th year, and the National Scholars Program, in its 52nd year. All three programs will be administered by Janiece Bacon Oblak, director of Cornell Tradition and assistant dean of admissions and financial aid for recognition programs, under the name "The Cornell Commitment." Lloyd Hall, director of research scholarship programs, will serve as director of the Cornell Research Scholars Program.

Cornell Research Scholars will be recognized for their special interest in research; Cornell Tradition Fellows for their commitment to work and community service; and Cornell National Scholars for their outstanding leadership. The Cornell Commitment will give all these students the opportunity to work together on cultural events and service projects, thereby increasing their personal growth and campus involvement, Rawlings said.

The program will help Cornell enroll a greater proportion of the most academically gifted students who apply, many of whom now choose other universities, said Provost Don M. Randel.

"This program will make Cornell more competitive in the recruitment of exceptional students and a leader in improving the quality of the undergraduate experience," Randel said.

Students recruited under the new Research Scholars Program who need financial assistance will receive up to $2,500 annually in loan reduction as well as paid research opportunities for four years. All Cornell Research Scholars, whether or not they need financial assistance, will have the opportunity to do paid, part-time research with a faculty mentor during the school year. They also will be eligible for one summer of paid research.

Plans are to include faculty in the direct recruitment of research scholars to the university. Each incoming research scholar will be linked to a professor and a Cornell Research Scholar in his or her senior year working in an area of particular interest to the student.

During their four undergraduate years, research scholars will continue to work on research projects and will be paid for their work. In their senior year, the scholars also will work on their senior thesis, to be completed by the end of their senior year. They will also serve as a mentor for a freshman research scholar.

Cornell Research Scholars will be members of a campus community of scholars for whom special cultural and academic activities, as well as leadership training, will be planned. The centerpiece of these activities will be a student research symposium cosponsored by the Cornell Research Scholars. The universitywide symposium will enable senior research scholars to present their senior thesis work to the entire campus and guests.

The Cornell Research Scholars Program also will work cooperatively with existing campus programs involving undergraduates in research. Program elements will complement and expand opportunities in other programs.

"In order to develop the academic leaders of the future, we must involve talented students in important research activities at the undergraduate level," said Norman R. Scott, vice president for research and advanced studies. "The investment in this program is an investment not only in the future of these students, but in the future of Cornell and the nation."