Five thousand, one hundred and forty three. Five thousand one hundred and forty three is the stunning number of full-time undergraduates under Western University’s Faculty of Science. But within this sizable population, there exists a small tight-knit community of around two hundred and forty undergraduates, who pride themselves as students of Western Integrated Science (WISc).

“Integrated Science?”, you may ask as someone from the more familiar Bachelor’s of Science (BSc) or Medical Sciences programs.

“Through a lot of different classes we have in Integrated Science, because of the interdisciplinary nature, I start to understand what’s outside of my program,” said Ridwan Bari, third year WISc student specializing in astrophysics, “I’m required to take some biology courses as an Integrated Science student. I’m starting to dive into what actual biology is like and now it’s a field that I want to pursue in my research.”

As the program’s name suggests, students in WISc are taught virtually every science that you can think of from core subjects such as biology, chemistry and physics to more specialized disciplines such as earth sciences, astronomy and computer science. They even have their own exclusive facility and workspace available only to them 24/7! As such, “interdisciplinary” is the program’s magic word, which was proudly showcased at the annual WISc Research Symposium. It was held on October 2, 2019 and was open to all Western students.

Thirteen students who had returned from their summer research/internship presented their projects in five minutes and were then given a three-minute question period. During this time, not only were attendees able to learn about the essence of interdisciplinary research, they were also immersed in a camaraderie. As opposed to a formal conference, presenters generously took the chance to make amusing jokes about their research experiences while attendees (including first and upper year WISc students as well as professors) reacted with heartwarming chuckles as if everyone in the room were their close friends. And not to mention the copious amount of food during the break!

“This is the second year that the students have arranged the symposium,” said Professor Felix Lee, Director of the WISc Program, “They have an outstanding passion for science. From the presentations that we’ve seen tonight, we have realized that it’s very rare that you use just one science. For instance, in Devanshi’s (a fourth year student in biology specialization) presentation, she was primarily dealing with the botany of cannabis, but also relied on the chemistry of plant nutrients to formulate more efficient resources.”

Among other presenters, fourth year Integrated Science student, Manraj Singh, demonstrated the analysis of suberin (a primary metabolite commonly found in soy beans) through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. He also reflected on some life lessons that he picked up during his summer research.

“Science is difficult,” mentioned Singh, “But if you trust the process and keep patiently reiterating what you have to do, everything will be OK. Find a mentor to latch onto, someone who is willing to answer your questions. It helps you get past the learning curve better and faster. And lastly, write everything down. It’s really tough losing work and having to ask your mentor again, which might tick them off!”

Ultimately, the symposium helped first year WISc students get a better grasp of the program and gave upper year students inspiration for their own summer research topics. The fact that the event was an open invite, however, shows that even though the program is a tight knit community, the students have flexible personalities towards academia and show incredible friendliness to all students and professors.

Professor Lee also mentioned other WISc events promoting scientific literacy and collaboration under an intimate setting: “Another event that we had last week was a diversity and inclusion training session, specifically held for first year WISc students. Basically, this is to get students to think how they could be part of an environment that is conducive to including everyone from different backgrounds, be it religious, gender identity, ethnic and so on”

Singh reflected on the comparisons between Integrated Science and other science programs available at Western University: “I don’t think WISc is different from a research perspective. The program does help you expand your network and get research positions that you might not get in a class of 400 students. Having more facetime with these professors, especially in first and second year, helps make better connections so that you get better recommendations and guidance. Is the research different from other science programs? Not really. Definitely for our thesis, we need to have a more interdisciplinary one. However, it’s not vastly different from what anyone does in Medical Sciences or BSc programs.”

Bari lastly explained how he found a passion to learn science under a tailored educational curriculum: “For first years, as you grow up, remember why you do science. As a kid, I remember doing really simple experiments with ink drops for example, but now we have the tools to critically analyze them. We can get so involved in technical work, but being in Integrated Science helps you take a step back and see the bigger picture. This helps me love what I do in science.”