So let me conclude by directing your attention to a light-blue handout in your packet titled "2002 UCSD Summer Research Conference." 

This event is organized by our Academic Enrichment Programs office. It attracts undergraduates who are on a fast track for graduate school, either for Ph.D. programs or for medical school.

They received support from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCOP, and other sources.

They worked closely with UCSD faculty mentors whose names will be familiar to you, including:

George Lipsitz in Ethnic Studies; Mark Thiemens in Biology; Bud Mehan in Sociology; Ken Chien in Medicine; Karen Pierce and Mark Tuszynski in Neuroscience; and in the "Materials Physics" section on page 26, two professors named Hellman and Dynes.

When the students finished their projects, they convened at the Price Center in business attire with PowerPoint disks to present their findings.

Let me share two observations about the young researchers at this year's conference.

The first is that they displayed a very keen interest in cross-disciplinary knowledge.When they weren't presenting their own findings, the students were free to sit in on any other session they wanted. Most of them chose sessions outside their own areas.

In a session on research by psychologists, a young chemist remarked with some measure of surprise that social scientists seemed a lot more articulate than physical scientists. And he added that he was thinking of changing his major.

The second insight is especially gratifying to my generation of researchers: These students all agreed that the most exciting research outcomes were the ones that they hadn't expected.

And all of them are eager to follow those unexpected outcomes by conducting advanced research in graduate school and beyond.

Now that they've experienced life at UCSD and San Diego, I'm betting that many of these gifted and diverse young people will follow the knowledge trail back here.