FRI: Twenty Years of Transforming STEM Education

A Message from the FRI Director

The spring semester is already in full swing, and what an exciting start it’s been! This year is especially meaningful as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), the nation’s largest undergraduate research program. For two decades, FRI has empowered  thousands of College of Natural Sciences (CNS) students to dive into real-world STEM research from their very first year on the Forty Acres.

Since our program's launch, FRI has transformed how first-year students experience STEM by connecting the lab and the classroom. Today, more than 35 vibrant Research Streams, spanning biology, chemistry, biotechnology, robotics, neuroscience, astronomy, textiles, and more, immerse students in authentic discovery. Over 15,000 undergraduate students have participated, carrying their FRI foundation into research, industry, healthcare, and beyond.

As the Director of FRI and former Research Educator for the Luminators inorganic chemistry stream (now sunsetted), I still fondly remember my time in the lab, watching first-year students nervously pick up a pipette, then, by semester’s end, creating new, and sometimes unexpected, molecules, proudly presenting their research at conferences, and even contributing to publications in the field. 

When undergraduates realize they aren’t just learning science but doing science, that’s the moment they begin to see themselves as STEM professionals in the making; that moment is the heart of FRI."

Lauren De Pue, FRI Director

Now, in my new role, I see that spark multiplying across our community, through more than 600 peer mentors guiding new students each year, expanded opportunities for summer research, and countless pathways leading to conferences, co-authored publications, and other meaningful research outcomes, supported by our award-winning faculty and staff.

FRI continues to cultivate essential research and transferable skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, through its multi-tiered mentoring and research model. This approach connects principal investigators, Research Educators, and peer mentors, integrating hands-on lab experiences with classroom learning. Our success is further strengthened by generous external partners and donors who support FRI, the Accelerated Research Initiative (ARI), which extends research opportunities to upper-division and transfer students, and outreach programs such as Shadow a Scientist, which gives middle school students the chance to experience life in an FRI lab, and the High School Research Academy (HSRA), which offers participants a summer research experience each year.

As we celebrate this milestone year, we invite you to join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebration, April 17–18, featuring the 25th Annual Undergraduate Research Forum, where undergraduate researchers from across CNS will showcase their work through poster presentations.

Follow along as we continue to share the FRI impact and showcase how curiosity and innovation come together to make a difference. Thank you for being part of this continued journey of exploration and discovery with us!