Carbon Undergraduate Research Scholars Program
Undergraduate science and math students from Loyola University Chicago are invited to apply to the prestigious Michael and Dorothy Carbon Scholars Program.
- Is a competitive program open to undergraduate students majoring in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or Physics.
- Provides students with the opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research with faculty.
- Provides students with financial support during the period of the program.
Carbon Scholars Program Objectives:
- To enable students to gain practical experience in interdisciplinary scientific research.
- To promote science literacy, critical thinking, and verbal and written communication skills.
- To develop leadership potential and social responsibility.
Details of the Program:
- Applications for this year's sophomores are due March 1, 2008.
- Students will apply to the program in March of their sophomore year.
- Projects will begin in the Fall semester of the junior year and will end in May of the senior year, and research during the summer between the junior and senior years is encouraged.
- Students will be expected to spend between 10 and 15 hours per week conducting research during the academic year, and are encouraged to spend 20 hours per week for 6-8 weeks during the summer between junior and senior years.
- Students will receive a stipend of $5,000 per year.
- Faculty mentors will be assigned a budget of $2,500 per year for supplies and student travel.
- At the end of the senior year, Scholars will present their projects in an open forum at Loyola.
- Students and mentors will be strongly encouraged to present their Carbon Scholars projects at national scientific meetings and to publish their results in scientific journals.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Students must have junior standing when entering the program.
- Students must have a declared major in Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics or Physics.
- Students must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 to apply to the program, and must maintain that GPA throughout the program.
More Information:
- Interested students should inquire at the office of the Loyola Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP) located in room 422 of the Life Sciences Building (773-508-8255; cuerp@luc.edu) for application materials.
- CUERP staff can provide details on the application process and can assist students in pairing with faculty who are conducting research in an area of interest to the students.
Carbon Scholars
Congratulations to the students awarded the presitgious Michael and Dorothy Carbon Scholarship.
2008-2010 Carbon Scholars
Scholar: Donald Jonker
Faculty Mentors: Howard Laten (Biology) and Tom Gallagher (Microbiology and Immunology)
Project Title: Expression and Function of Genes from the Soybean Retroelement SIRE1.
Scholar: Gennadiy (Gene) Katsevman
Faculty Mentors: M. William Rochlin (Biology) and Timothy O'Brien (Mathematics / Statistics)
Project Title: Does Eph/Ephrin Signaling Contribute to the Divergence of Sensory Nerves During Embryonic Development?
Scholar: Alyssa Kuschel
Faculty Mentors: Ken Olsen (Chemistry) and John Olson (Biochemistry, Cell Biology) Rice University
Project Title: The Effects of Mutations on Oxygen Binding to Myoglobin: Computational and Experimental Studies.
Scholar: Michal Olszewski
Faculty Mentors: Nancy Tuchman (Biology), Pamela Geddes (Biology), Shane Lishawa (Biology), Alanah Fitch (Chemistry), and Daniel Larkin (Chicago Botanic Garden)
Project Title: Effects of Invasive Plant Species on Wetland Denitrification and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Scholar: April Williams
Faculty Mentors: Catherine Putonti (Computer Science, Biology) and Kimberly Williamson (Biology)
Project Title: Methods for Recognizing the Adaptation of Pathogens to Host.
2007-2009 Carbon Scholars
Scholar: Martin Bezener
Faculty Mentors: Martina Schmeling (Chemistry), Martin Buntinas (Mathematics), David Goldblatt (Georgraphic Information Systems), and Kenneth Johnson (Sociology)
Project Title: Air Quality studies in Chicago
Scholar: Christine Falaschetti
Faculty Mentors: Ken Olsen (Chemistry, computational modeling) and Miguel Ballicora (Biochemistry)
Project Title: Molecular Mechanisms for the Control of Starch Production in Plants
Scholar: Frank Garcia
Faculty Mentors: Ken Olsen (Chemistry) and Michael Mardent (Biology, INSERM, Paris, France)
Project Title: Computational and Experimental Studies of Oxygen Binding to Neuroglobin
Scholar: Tanya Grancharova
Faculty Mentors: John Kelly (Microbiology), Pamela Geddes (Wetland Ecology), and Timothy O'Brien (Mathematics and Statistics)
Project Title: Impacts of an Invasive Plant Species on Nitrogen Cycling Bacterial Communities in Freshwater Wetland Sediments