Ksenya Mull, a student at Binghamton University, was already acquainted with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) when she commenced her search for a summer program that would provide her with laboratory experience.
She is a double major in Chemistry and Medieval & Early Renaissance Studies at her home university, so she was drawn to a school with a similar interdisciplinary focus.
“UChicago PME has been on my radar for a while because it's really interesting to me how you can have people from so many adjacent but different fields come together and work on one topic or field,” she said. “It’s amazing how I, as a chemist, can come here and work with chemical engineers, physicists, and biologists in one setting.”
Mull is one of the undergraduates from universities across the nation who participated in UChicago PME’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Funded by a generous grant from the Walder Foundation, the program provides young scientists the opportunity to gain authentic research experience.
Each year, 10 undergraduates spend 10 weeks working in UChicago PME labs while attending lectures on career development, honing grad school applications, science communication and other topics to help set them up for their careers.
“The UChicago PME REU program, funded by the Walder Foundation, is a shining example of a program that allows an institution to invest in the next generation of researchers, engineers, physicians, and scholars,” said Asst. Prof. Juan Mendoza, who runs the program.
As an undergraduate, Mendoza himself participated in a similar REU program, which gave him his first taste of lab life.
“I would not have been able to work in a lab as I always had to work to pay for my schooling,” he said. “From the opportunity an REU program gave me, I fell in love with research, which set me on a path that continues to this day, 20 years later.”
‘Never, never shy away’
Marco Piazzi, a Biomedical Engineering major at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is looking forward to pursuing a career with the United States Air Force, ideally as an aerospace physiologist helping airmen prepare for and survive extreme-G forces and high altitudes.
He was not, however, looking forward to learning the coding and AI it would take to get there.
“I didn’t resonate well with coding. And at Georgia Tech, I tried to avoid it as much as possible,” he said.
But when applying to REU programs, he tackled his reluctance head-on, joining the computational-focused lab of UChicago PME Prof. Andrew Ferguson. Soon, Piazzi’s eyes were opened to the research possibilities that artificial intelligence and machine learning offer.
“This program has definitely taught me that no matter what stage you are in your career, you're always learning and you're always going to be learning,” Piazzi said. “So never, never shy away from the challenge like I did with coding. Never, never back down from it.”
Piazzi also credits his mentor Siddarth Achar, a postdoctoral researcher in Ferguson Lab, for the insight and opportunities Achar provided to help Piazzi develop his coding abilities.
Kayla Lee’s path to the program started with allergies. The Chemical Engineering major at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art has a major nut allergy, with several family members also suffering from severe allergies. Applying her engineering degree to this very specific problem seemed an out-of-reach dream.
Lee was surprised then to find a research opportunity in the lab of Prof. Cathryn Nagler, the Bunning Family Professor in the Biological Sciences Division, UChicago PME and the College.
“It was one of those amazing miracles where I found a lab that had exactly what I wanted to do,” she said. “There are not many, research opportunities in general in the REU sector that focus on allergy therapeutics. It was honestly just luck of the draw being able to find this opportunity.”
More than lab work
Mull said one of the most eye-opening experiences came in a lecture, in a talk about PhD career opportunities from Director of Career Development Briana Konnick.
“She changed my perspective on what getting a PhD means for your future career prospects,” Mull said. “There are so many more opportunities for you, many of which I was not previously familiar with.”
The talk was part of a series of graduate school and professional training workshops developed by UChicago staff, encompassing concepts like career exploration, effective communication across multiple audiences, applying to fellowships, navigating graduate school applications, and more.
“It’s so vital that these concepts are taught, demystified, and practiced early on, to set the foundation for these students to excel long term in whatever pathway they choose,” Konnick said.