Beginning in 2004, the Departments of Applied Biology & Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry implemented the IRCBC (Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative in Biology and Chemistry), intended to support undergraduate student research in the biological and chemical sciences. The IRCBC was originally funded by an external grant from Merck and the AAAS awarded to Richard Anthony and Mark Brandt and by Rose-Hulman.

A Faculty Success Grant, funded by the Lilly Endowment, awarded to Peter Coppinger and Mark Brandt in 2006 allowed continuation of the program through 2009. A grant from Edwards Lifesciences supported the program in 2010, and a second grant from Edwards Lifesciences will be supporting the program in 2011.

But the program soon grew beyond the life sciences, as the demand for departmental collaborations, both among students and out in the career world, grew. An ever widening range of disciplines became involved in the program. And in 2008, the program was renamed IRC (Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative) to reflect this broadening field base.

A major feature of the current IRC program has been the annual undergraduate research symposium, held near the end of Fall Quarter. The symposium serves as a forum for IRC students to present their work to fellow students. And the symposium itself has fanned out, attracting both attendees and presenters from other local institutions.

This IRC sequence gives our top students opportunities it would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain elsewhere. Both the research program and the symposium offer students experience in effective scientific communication, written and oral. Not only that, the program encourages faculty, at all levels, to initiate and maintain active research endeavors. Not only does this make the IRC an intrinsic part of exceptional student education, but it challenges faculty to stay on the leading edge while maintaining Rose-Hulman's core commitment to students.

Four years of the IRC program have shown that involvement in sponsored, full-time research allows interested students to develop laboratory skills and understanding well beyond what is possible during the academic year.