Student Research

Where learning becomes discovery

At ��ý, students get hands-on experience in labs, communities, and fields around the world. By contributing meaningfully to research endeavors, students develop the skills and confidence to pursue questions of their own.

A student in a white lab coat carefully adjusts a pink-and-blue prototype surrounded by wires and electronic components on a laboratory bench.

��ý students conduct research everywhere—in the lab and in the field, independently and with industry partners, in our local communities and all over the world. They make world-changing discoveries, while also making an educational experience all their own.

Conducting independent research in Dr. Uy’s lab has been one of the best decisions I made at the ��ý... It’s made me surer of what I want to do in the future and what career I’d like to pursue. I definitely feel more confident as a scientist and a student.

Eisabella Sherwood ’23

Eisabella Sherwood, wearing a black shirt and blue gloves, holds up a small piece of glass for display.

A group of four students work gather around a collapsible spacer for inhalers the team created.

Community building through engineering

��ý seniors and master’s students provide businesses and nonprofits solutions to real-world problems through their design capstone projects.

Engineering a better world

Cell and developmental biology major Jessica Wang ’28 removes plastic scraps from a 3D-printed gear on a device the team engineered called a clinostat.

Using bacteria to build a future on Mars

A team of students are turning Martian air into plastics and fertilizer—earning top honors internationally. By harnessing bacteria, they’re transforming carbon dioxide into materials that may one day help astronauts build a sustainable life on Mars.

From pollution to potential

Senior biomedical engineering student Sophea Urbi Biswas adjusts an electroencephalography cap on fellow lab member Jin Dou, a biomedical engineering PhD student.

Exploring how the brain processes speech syntax

Sophea Urbi Biswas ’24 used her hands-on lab experience as an biomedical engineering undergraduate to drive new discoveries. “It’s exciting pursuing questions that have never been asked before, and getting results that have never been found before.”

Wired for research

Person standing with crossed arms in a library aisle next to bookshelves.

Are women perceived differently when they run for office?

Morgan Gillespie ’23 conducted voter perception research—a unique path in her education that she didn’t know she could take. “I realized I would be able to investigate issues that I always had questions about but that I didn’t think I’d be able to find the answers for.”

How gender impacts voting