This Spring, the following CCI faculty members and graduate student received Materials Grants from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP):

Mentor	Mentee(s)
Jonathan Adams (iSchool)	Alvaro Tello, Kendall Smith, Astrid Carolina Daugherty
Micah Hirsch (SCSD)	Ashley Bishop, Meredith Strickland
Faye Jones (CCI)	Assencha “Joseph” Ashebo
Diogo Nunes de Oliveira (iSchool)	Ryan Fontaine, Jennifer Pierre, Dhruvi Shah, Natalia Chamizo
Carla Wood (SCSD)	Karen Chantre, Sasha Smith

UROP Materials Grants are awarded to faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who serve as Research Mentors to undergraduate students. These grants provide supplemental funding for their research projects.

We spoke with several of the recipients about their experience as Research Mentors.

“Working with undergraduate students in research is extremely fulfilling for both the mentee and the mentor,” said Dr. Faye Jones. “It is especially rewarding when the student is engaged in a project that interests them, and the research generates knowledge that helps others.”

“UROP students understand the value in research, and they can work without a lot of management,” said Dr. Jonathan Adams. “The best part is that my students come from biomathematics, computer science, engineering, info management — they tend to have the math skills and an interest in the research.”

“I would recommend it to other faculty members because of the tradeoff you get as a mentor,” said Dr. Diogo Nunes de Oliveira. “As we commit ourselves to guide students into academic research, showing them this new world of possibilities, they are helping us, mentors, to progress with our research studies.”

CCI is proud of our Research Mentors and the talented undergraduate students who collaborate with them. To learn more about becoming a UROP Research Mentor, click here.