Summer 2025 Student Research Projects

I learned about every aspect of the research process, from thinking of a research question to actually finding results and presenting them.

I really enjoyed working with my lab partners. It was extremely rewarding to know that our group efforts resulted in a statistical significant outcome.

I learned how to formally approach a computational research problem from start to finish: from understanding the theoretical foundations of graph coloring algorithms to implementing complex randomized methods in R, and designing experiments that provided meaningful statistical evidence. I gained hands-on experience reading academic papers critically, debugging under pressure, and communicating technical results in an accessible way. Beyond my project, the weekly lunch seminars exposed me to a wide range of research perspectives, from DEI in research to the nuances of quantitative and interdisciplinary work. These talks helped broaden my understanding of what it means to be a thoughtful researcher and sharpened my ability to engage with research questions from both technical and ethical standpoints. Most importantly, I learned how to persist through ambiguity and setbacks—an essential part of doing real research.

What I liked best about the program was the freedom to take ownership of my research while still having the guidance of an incredible mentor. Being able to design experiments, make implementation choices, and interpret results on my own made the work feel meaningful and empowering. I also really appreciated the supportive community—talking to other SRP fellows about their projects, attending seminars, and sharing meals together created a collaborative environment where I was constantly learning, even outside my own field. It was exciting to be surrounded by people who were just as curious and passionate about their work.

I learned how to use a variety of methods to achieve an overarching goal. I also learn how to manage my time when I have relatively more freedom and use my time efficiently. I also gained experience in taking initiative and learning good research practice.

I really like how I have the opportunity to have flexibility of exploring and figuring things out on my own. I also enjoyed the support from faculty members when I got stuck.

During the Summer Research Program, I learned how to build a complete computational modeling pipeline from scratch, including data preprocessing, parameter optimization, and behavioral simulation. I developed a deeper understanding of reinforcement learning models in neuroscience, especially how expected values and prediction errors relate to observed behavior. I also improved my skills in Python, debugging complex probabilistic models, and working with real human subject data. Importantly, I gained experience in scientific collaboration, communicating with my mentor, iterating on model assumptions, and adapting to new experimental constraints, which helped me grow both as a researcher and a programmer.

What I liked best about the program was the freedom to take ownership of a complex project while still having the support of a knowledgeable mentor. I enjoyed the balance between independent problem-solving and collaborative troubleshooting, especially when designing flexible code that could generalize across subjects and experimental conditions. It was incredibly rewarding to see the model improve over time and to feel like my contributions had a direct impact on the research process.

The major lesson I learned during SRP is that charitability is does not necessarily need to come from a place of benevolence for the point being made by the author, but rather an understanding of the competency of the author. In other words, the question when analyzing an argument that I don't necessarily agree with, the question does not have to be "what is good in this?" but "what would I have to believe to make this convincing?" This small shift allowed me to understand why conservatives so often contradicted their purported principles on issues pertaining to the civil rights movement.

I enjoyed the weekly lectures a lot, especially the portions during which professors spoke about their own research journeys and offered advice to the students; I found them to be both helpful and interesting, especially as I was situating myself in my own journey in the first couple of weeks.

During this summer, I learned just how unpredictable working in life sciences research can be. While in the process of developing an assay to measure light emission from multiple mutants of a bioluminescent enzyme, I had to perform many test trials to see the effect of some other variable that I didn't initially think I would have to test. While there was a lot of trial and error in the process, ultimately it was all needed to get me to the point where I had an assay that worked well, and produced reproducible results.

I enjoyed the weekly Tuesday lunch meetings the most. I enjoy hearing lectures from Professors in fields that vastly differ from my own.

My ability to do empirical research, and in particular to combine that research with theoretical research, has improved significantly.

I appreciated that I was given room to work on my own schedule.

My experience in Berger Institute lab over the summer has helped me continue to grow my intellectual curiosity regarding different ways to measure cortisol and various variables that are correlated and predict cortisol, such as financial insecurity and the context of stress. In addition, I learned how to use the platforms R Studio and SPSS to analyze data for our research projects. I also conducted various laboratory tasks, including Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) Training, literature reviews, dataset cleaning, and calculating BMI.

What I liked best about the program was hearing different speakers each week at the SRP lunches, presenting our research at the end of the program, which felt rewarding, and hearing other students present their research.

I learned a lot of very valuable information regarding the variance of sex ed. policy--especially specific educational codes and methods of implementation. Furthermore, I was able to better understand the areas in my project that will require further inquiry. I was also able to practice my data analysis skills using Excel and Stata.

I liked how flexible the program was regarding my independent research. I appreciated the autonomy afforded to me to best approach my project.

I learned how to use essential research tools to optimize my workflow such as Zotero for organizing sources and GitHub for managing and tracking project files. I also became more confortable navigating the overall research process and understood the flow and purpose of research overall. As this was my firsrt research experience, it was valuable to see how research unfolds and how collaborative and iterative it can be.

What I liked best about the program was the Tuesday lunch seminars, where I got to hear interesting presentations from faculty mentors accross different disciplines. I also really apprecoated the effort the program put into making the experience enjoyable, espically through the social cohort activities.

I gained a comprehensive understanding of conservatism, including key figures and writers involved with the movement and how historians have written about the movement. I helped my group formalize a general thesis about conservatism’s relation to the civil rights movement, which developed my skills in writing, communication, and problem solving.  Additionally, Professor Buccola gave us a great deal of freedom to explore the different sects of conservatism on our own, and I was able to learn quite a bit from my deep on into libertarianism, specifically researching the economist Frederick Hayek.

I enjoyed the SRP Lunches and Presentations. I believe the professors did a wonderful job both discussing their field of study and showing us how to conduct a concise  presentation on a subject one is passionate and interested in.

I learned how to use and analyze data from NCBI, improved my python programming skills, learned new lab techniques such as plasmid transformation, growing cultures, plating, and troubleshooting potential sources of error.

I enjoyed getting the chance to work alongside other CMC students that are passionate about research. I found it especially enjoyable that all of the projects were different. I felt like this accurately represents the variety of programs at CMC and the benefit that this provides to us as students at a liberal arts college.

This summer research project deepened my understanding of historical analogies in international relations theory and constructing alternative frameworks. My understanding of both ancient Greek politics and contemporary U.S.-China relations evolved significantly throughout the eight weeks as new evidence challenged my preliminary conclusions. I'm grateful to Professor Evrigenis for his patient supervision, detailed feedback on multiple drafts, and encouragement to pursue unconventional theoretical directions.

The autonomy, flexibility, and intellectual freedom.

I learned A LOT. Here are some of the technical skills that learned or improved on: Python, pipetting, lab notebook organization, operation of a pipetting robot, and experiment design. Some other skills that I have gain include: reading scientific literature, scientific collaboration, scientific communication, and I gained a lot of self confidence in lab. After participating in SRP I feel that I can see a future in biochemistry.

My professor made me feel like I really belonged in the sciences. He helped me gain confidence in my knowledge and intellect. I enjoyed SRP lunches and learning about what people are doing in other fields besides my own.

How history shapes ideology and an insight into local politics on the level of engagement shaping outcomes.

The flexibility I had to do a deep dive I was interested in.

I learned many technical molecular biology lab skills that I can easily transfer into any of my classes and future research positions in the field. These skills include pipetting, running gel electrophoresis and reactions related to DNA and cloning any mutant of interest. I have also been able to delve into the experimentation part of science, where I was able to troubleshoot when things do not work as planned. Dealing with a new concept and uncertainties in the research, I got to practice and discuss different ways to approach the experiments and scientific data.

I learned so much during this time while being able to bond with other students in the lab and our professor even more. I can confidently say that I can see my self doing so doing this kind of research in this field in the future and doing this as a career.

I learned many invaluable skills during the Summer Research Program. I had my first experience with science field sampling and working hands-on with corals. I was also able to greatly improve my microbiology techniques and comfortability with working in lab. I learned how to use R and used it in processing our data and generating figures for our presentation. It was also my first experience giving a bigger college presentation. Additionally, I also started learning how to write a scientific paper. Lastly, I also made new friends. :)

I really liked that this program gave me the opportunity to engage in such exciting and impactful research as an undergraduate. While I had some prior experience in certain areas, I was still new to many procedures/protocols. As such, the program as a whole was an amazing learning experience. I also really appreciated getting to help a professor with her research project. It was really helpful to learn more about practices in my field of interest and be able to get insight and feedback on how I was doing and how I could improve. As a rising sophomore, this program was really special, enjoyable, and important to me. Also, while not many people participated in the Social Fellow events, I really enjoyed them and went to every event. As a Social Fellow, I found it a really interesting experience in planning social events and I'm grateful that CMC enabled us to build a bit of community and meet new friends during our research time.

This research opportunity allowed me to gain valuable lab skills; I learned how to work on protocols by myself and with lab partners. I also appreciate how I was able to look at the different components of work as a biologist. We worked on field work, sample collection, molecular labs, data analysis, and research writing methods.

I not only learned a new set of skill in a molecular lab, but I was glad to see the other students' research projects and professors discussions. I thought the Tuesday lunches were a great addition to the summer research program. They were valuable assets because they allowed students to see different perspectives and subjects besides their own.