Undergraduates engage in diverse research activities and intellectual production opportunities across campus.
This is the College’s Research Roundup—a quarterly news feature that allows us to celebrate the success of these students and their work.
Editor's note: If you know of a UChicago College student whose research should be recognized, email kyoshimoto@uchicago.edu with “Research Roundup” in the subject line.
"Cool" exoplanets
Dillon Bass, BS’25, authored a study on planets outside our solar system that was recently published in The Astronomical Journal. Conducted during his time as an undergraduate, his research under Prof. Dan Fabrycky focused on validating long period “cool”—both in temperature and in intrigue—exoplanets. This work is crucial for discovering Earth-like planets that could potentially support life, as well as for determining whether rings and moons are as common in other solar systems as in our own. Read more about his work here.
College Summer Institute
The College Summer Institute in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CSI) provides College students with intensive intellectual training alongside research opportunities with accomplished scholars across humanistic disciplines at UChicago. Run by the College’s Office of Undergraduate Research, this immersive, full-time summer program—which included trips to the Field Museum, the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center and more—helps students develop the skills necessary for further engagement with their disciplines.
On August 13-14, these 25 students took part in CSI’s Closing Symposium, reporting out on their work. Several of this year’s projects supported upcoming public exhibitions on campus, including those on the papers of poet, artist, historian, activist, and UChicago alum Barbara Morgan; the Protestant Reformation as a “media revolution” resonant with the current day; and the genre of the “artists’ book” in the postwar period.
Summer research in the Social Sciences
This summer, more than 80 undergraduates participated in the Division of the Social Science’s Summer Institute in Social Research Methods (SISRM). Now in its seventh year, SISRM includes a mix of classes, workshops, field trips and fellowships with faculty with a goal of connecting students to the core research mission of the Division of the Social Sciences. Students tackled research projects ranging from “Mapping the Imperial neighborhood” with Professor Dong in the History Department and “‘All the cool kids are doing it’: Children's beliefs about popularity and social influence” with Professor Shaw in the Psychology Department. Learn more here.
MBL research
On August 14, 16 College students presented their research findings from a summer in Woods Hole, Mass. as part of UChicago’s Marine Biological Laboratory’s Undergraduate Poster Session. From tracking the smallest and most abundant photosynthetic organisms in the ocean to how octopuses change how they use their arms to pick up heavier items, students were able to share and discuss their research with the fellow undergraduates and the MBL Community.
Watch a day in the life of a student at MBL this summer here.
Internship abroad
Rising third-year Michael Bolgov was featured in UChicago PME’s Engineering the Summer series. Bolgov, who works in the laboratories of UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Dean Emeritus Matthew Tirrell and UChicago Chemistry Prof. Jack Szostak, talks about his summer research focused on how to save lives as an intern for the life sciences company Bruker in Bremen, Germany. His research will help doctors diagnose and treat patients with sepsis more quickly and efficiently. Read more about the internship here.
