UROP Project

Representation and relational structure

language, cognition, AI, perception

Research Mentor: Nelu Radpour, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology , Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: radpour@psy.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

Ever notice how the same information can feel totally different depending on how it's packaged? A word looks different in a weird font, a puzzle feels harder or easier depending on how the instructions are worded, AI might answer the same question differently depending on how you ask it. This project is basically chasing that idea around, looking at whether changing the format of something changes what people, or AI models, actually do with it, even when the underlying content hasn't changed at all. We poke at this from a few different angles, sometimes it's language and reading, sometimes it's puzzles and problem solving, sometimes it's comparing humans to AI directly, and your thread of the project is flexible depending on what we're curious about that semester. If you like the idea of studying how the mind (or a model) processes information more than you care about sticking to one narrow topic, this is a good fit.

Research Tasks: literature reviews, stimulus/protocol design, data collection/coding/entry/cleaning/analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: No research experience necessary; training will be provided.

Investigating Role of Attitudes and Identity on Contact-Induced Phonetic Variation in Chipileño

phonetics/phonology, language contact, sociolinguistics, Spanish, bilingualism

Research Mentor: Maia Shampo, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Modern Languages and Linguistics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: mes23h@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Maybe one more
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors. Spanish and Linguistics are most relevant
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

This project examines the linguistic outcomes of language contact between Spanish and Chipileño in Chipilo, Puebla, Mexico, with particular attention to phonetic variation. Chipileño is a diasporic language and variant of Veneto, the Italic dialect spoken in Italy’s region of Venezia, that was formed after contact between Veneto and Spanish as Venetian families immigrated to the small town of Chipilo in the 1880s. While there are only about 2,500 native speakers today and Chipileño is therefore considered an endangered language, the community continues to preserve and maintain its unique language and culture.

The present project proposes to investigate Chipileño, specifically how native speakers' language attitudes and identities influence their use of phonetic features, which has yet to be empirically investigated. I aim to provide further insight into the unique features of this understudied variant of Italian Veneto and Mexican Spanish and work towards creating a corpus with more written and spoken data of Chipileño. Furthermore, I am interested in looking at the phonetic contrast in the production of /b/ and /v/ by bilingual speakers of Spanish and Chipileño, as with an increased use of Spanish, younger speakers may not be differentiating between these sounds as it would be pronounced in Standard Veneto.

To answer these questions, this summer I recorded sociolinguistic interviews and experimental tasks of 30 native Chipileño speakers that obtain qualitative data on their attitudes toward Chipileño, Veneto, and Spanish. I will analyze the use of phonetic features of Spanish vs. Veneto, specially how the phonetic pronunciation of /b/ instead of /v/ is used, along with some other phonetic features such as open vowels, rhotics, etc.

I hypothesize that if a speaker identifies more with their Italian heritage, they may maintain Venetian features in their speech. However, speakers may not maintain Venetian features due to the influence of Spanish. Overall, in analyzing data, I hope to find a more concrete overall of which features they do or do not use.

Research Tasks: Research assistant(s) will be working with the PI on data analysis. The research assistant(s) will focus on the analysis of Spanish data and questionnaire data. Their tasks will consist of transcribing data from reading tasks, picture-naming tasks, and sociolinguistic interviews, and segmenting, transcribing, annotating and acoustically analyzing data from all tasks. The research assistants will receive detailed instructions on all aspects of the project and will work closely with me as their mentor. There will be in-person meetings every other week for instructions and for checking work. Their research tasks can be carried out on a computer or laptop, as all the software is freely available.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: The required skill for this project is (basic) knowledge of Spanish. A background or interest in Linguistics, especially Hispanic Linguistics, and/or Phonetics/Phonology, is a plus.

A documentary film on 19th century women abolitionists

film, documentary women

Research Mentor: vscoon@fsu.edu Valerie Scoon, Ms.
Department, College, Affiliation: Motion Picture Arts, Motion Picture Arts
Contact Email: vscoon@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

This research is archival so looking for photos, images dawings and newspaoer articles that provide visuals for a documentary.

Research Tasks: This research is archival so looking for photos, images drawings and newspaoer articles that provide visuals for a documentary.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Curiosity, and ability to keep track of where images are from.

Evaluating the Influence of Rainfall–Storm Surge Timing on Compound Flooding in Perdido Bay

Compound flooding, storm surge, rainfall, timing, hydrodynamic modeling, Perdido Bay, coastal resilience

Research Mentor: Husnain Tansar,
Department, College, Affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: htansar@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth and Ocean Sciences, Climate Science, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 4:00
  End Time: 4:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98363010517

Project Description

Compound flooding occurs when multiple flood drivers, such as heavy rainfall, riverine discharge, and storm surge, interact and amplify flooding in coastal regions. An important but less understood factor is the relative timing of rainfall and storm surge peaks. Flood impacts may vary substantially depending on whether peak rainfall occurs before, during, or after the peak coastal water level. This project aims to evaluate how different rainfall–storm surge timing combinations influence flood depth, extent, duration, and spatial distribution in Perdido Bay. Using an existing calibrated hydrodynamic model, the student will develop and analyze controlled timing scenarios to identify conditions that produce the most severe compound flooding. The findings will improve understanding of compound flood mechanisms and support coastal flood-risk management and resilience planning.

Research Tasks: 1. Process rainfall, storm surge, water-level, and other hydrologic data used for compound flood simulations.
2. Develop rainfall–storm surge timing scenarios by shifting the relative timing of rainfall and coastal water-level peaks.
3. Apply an existing calibrated hydrodynamic model to simulate compound flooding under different timing scenarios.
4. Compare flood depth, inundation extent, flood duration, and spatial flood patterns among scenarios.
5. Analyze and visualize model results using GIS, Python, Excel, or similar tools.
6. Summarize findings and identify rainfall–surge timing combinations that produce the greatest compound flood impacts.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Interest in coastal flooding and environmental modeling, self-motivation, attention to detail, and ability to manage and process environmental data using Excel or similar software.
Preferred: Programming experience in Python, R, or MATLAB; familiarity with GIS; and/or experience with hydrologic or hydrodynamic modeling software.

Individual Variability in Learning and Development

Reading Difficulties, Multilingual Learners, ar-risk, Kenya, Individual Differences

Research Mentor: Dr. Brenda Wawire, She
Department, College, Affiliation: Learning Systems Institute, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: bwawire@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 6
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

My lab investigates the sources of variability in early literacy development. Current work examines how cognitive traits — executive function, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and working memory — interact with environmental factors such as the home literacy environment, socioeconomic status, and family risk to shape literacy growth and outcomes among at-risk learners. The work is grounded in Bronfenbrenner and Morris's bioecological model, which treats development as the product of ongoing person–context interaction.

The core project is an ongoing longitudinal study in Kenya spanning 35 primary schools, 1,002 learners, and 978 parents and caregivers, with two waves of data collected to date. A second strand investigates sources of reading difficulty among multilingual learners; to support this, I developed a screening tool for developmental dyslexia in Kiswahili, currently being pilot-tested in participating schools. The aim throughout is to generate evidence that helps stakeholders distinguish among profiles of struggling readers, so that interventions reach the right learners in the right form.

UROP students will join this work in two ways. The main task is analyzing qualitative data from teachers and parents of at-risk learners to understand their perspectives and experiences. Students will be trained to use Dedoose and will code interview transcripts, prepare code summaries, and help synthesize findings across participants. They will also contribute to the project's literature review.

Research Tasks: Data analysis ( coding data, thematic analysis, preparing code summaries) and literature review

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: No prior experience needed.

Financial Experiences of Transfer Students

Education, program evaluation, transfer students, psychology, student needs

Research Mentor: bsaridjo@fsu.edu Brandon Nicholas Saridjo,
Department, College, Affiliation: Transfer Student Success, Undergraduate Studies
Contact Email: bsaridjo@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

Examining the potential financial hardships transfer student experience when transferring to FSU. This data will be used to inform University leaders, donors, and staff.

Research Tasks: Interviews, data collecting, coding, research question development

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Ability to build rapport req
College level writing skills req
Transfer student rec

The Gendered Frontier: Analyses of Eco-Feminist and Queer Alaskana Music

Popular Music, American History, Eco-Feminism, Queer Studies, Indigenous Studies

Research Mentor: yy21a@fsu.edu Yui Tim Timothy Yu,
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, Music
Contact Email: yy21a@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Looking for research assistants/undergraduate students with majors in the humanities, including but not limited to: Music, English, Anthropology, Media and Communications, History, Philosophy, Cultural Geography etc.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Tuesday, September 1
  Start Time: 5:00
  End Time: 6:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/9905635889?omn=92202868142
• Day: Wednesday, September 2
  Start Time: 5:00
  End Time: 6:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/9905635889?omn=92202868142
• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 5:00
  End Time: 6:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/9905635889?omn=92202868142

Project Description

The UROP project is part of my ongoing dissertation research in ethnomusicology, through which I examine a contemporary indie/pop music genre in Alaska called "Alaskana" - a regional variation of the broader musical category "Americana." Broadly, I am interested in how music evokes and produces a sense of place, and how constructions of place as an idea can coexist, contradict, and overlap with one another. Alaska has long been mythologized as a place of hypermasculinity since the Klondike Gold Rush, serving as a "final frontier" for the American nation's expansionism in the American West. This project seeks to explore the works of Alaskana by contemporary Alaskan women and queer musicians, namely Marian Call, Annie Bartholomew, Robin Hopper, and Quinn Christopherson. By analyzing lyrics, music videos, performance videos, and interview transcripts from my preliminary fieldwork, I explore how understand how feminism, Indigeneity, and queer ecologies intersect and evoke alternative iterations of "Alaskanness."

Research Tasks: Students who partake in this UROP project will learn essential skills to work as a graduate student in the humanities, including:
1) Digital ethnography (study of communities and cultures through observing interactions in digital spaces)
2) Reading scholarship pertaining to critical theory, eco-feminism, feminism, queerness, philosophies of space and place, history of Indigenous Nations in Alaska, Alaskan/American history.
3) Analysis of music videos and popular music lyrics from literary, musicological, and historical/cultural perspectives

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required:
- Social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) for digital ethnography

Modeling Human Motor Learning Trends in Computer Games (QWOP)

learning, data, psychology,

Research Mentor: Dr. Brady DeCouto,
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: bsd24b@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Psychology, Computer Science, Statistics/Data Science, Exercise Physiology, Neuroscience, Mathematics
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 hours, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Wednesday, September 2
  Start Time: 3:00
  End Time: 4:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/bradydecouto
• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 3:00
  End Time: 4:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/bradydecouto

Project Description

This project uses QWOP, a computer browser-based game requiring players to control a runner's legs via four independent computer keys, to study how people learn complex, unfamiliar motor coordination. Our lab's custom version automatically logs behavioral and performance data on every attempt. This project is part of an active research line. Findings will also lay groundwork for future studies, potentially pairing this paradigm with EEG to study the neural basis of motor learning in different conditions (e.g., anxiety) or according to individual differences (e.g., computer experience, personality).

Research Tasks: The research tasks will first entail getting this study approved through the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and collecting data on individuals playing QWOP. The majority of time will be spent exploring the data, including learning trajectories and the timing of emerging motor coordination patterns (i.e., identifying in the data when people "figure it out").

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended: Microsoft Excel, Coding Experience (e.g., R, Python), Prompt Engineering with AI

A Rapid, High-throughput ATR-FTIR Screening of Skeletal Remains for Species Identification

FTIR spectroscopy, forensic science, species discrimination, chemometrics

Research Mentor: Dr Sayali Sangamnerkar, She/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Anthropology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: ss25d@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Chemistry, Anthropology, forensic science and/or anyone with interest in analytical techniques
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

The recovery and identification of fragmented skeletal remains from forensic, archaeological, disaster, and military MIA contexts often require extensive laboratory analyses to determine species origin and assess the potential for successful DNA recovery. Existing approaches rely heavily on morphological assessment and destructive molecular testing, which can be time-consuming, resource-intensive, and inconclusive when remains are highly fragmented or degraded. Published studies have demonstrated the potential of vibrational spectroscopy combined with machine learning methods for skeletal tissue characterization, suggesting an opportunity to develop rapid, non-destructive screening tools that can support forensic and recovery workflows. This project will develop and validate a non-destructive spectroscopic screening framework using ATR-FTIR and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy integrated with machine learning. Spectral data, combined with preprocessing and feature extraction, will support modeling (PCA, PLS-DA, Random Forest) to discriminate human vs. non-human bone

Research Tasks: Literature review, preparation of skeletal samples, data collection using FTIR spectrometer, and data analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Following skills required or willingness to learn:
Basic lab safety and following protocols
Sample handling, labelling, and record keeping
Experience with scientific instrumentation
data entry, quality control procedures
Microsoft office (word, excel, powerpoint)
Basic statistical analysis
Scientific research skills
Attention to detail and being able to work independently with guidance
Time management, problem-solving and critical thinking

Political Violence in the German Lands after Napoleon

Germany, Diplomacy, Terrorism, Security, Political Violence

Research Mentor: Dr. or Prof. George Williamson, He him. his
Department, College, Affiliation: History, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: gwilliamson@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: gwilliamson@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Criminology, History, International Relations, German Studies, British Studies, Terrorism
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 depending on where we are in the semester, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Wednesday, September 2
  Start Time: 2:00
  End Time: 2:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8576263967
• Day: Friday, September 4
  Start Time: 12:30
  End Time: 1:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/8576263967

Project Description

This project contributes to a broader research project on the assassination of the German playwright August von Kotzebue (1761-1819) by the university student Carl Sand (1795-1820) and its effects on German cultural and political life. Sand's act of political violence had wideranging
ramifications not just in Germany but throughout Europe. Some of those ramifications included a crackdown on political dissent, heightened censorship of the press, closer policing of universities, and a turn toward monarchical or authoritarian forms of government under the belief that such governments were less likely to be overthrown by conspiracies or out and out revolution. In this project, students will read reports written between 1815 and around 1822 by British envoys stationed in various German capitals (Berlin, Vienna, Stuttgart, Dresden, Munich, etc.) These envoys reported on the political mood in these cities/regions, conveying this information (along with their own viewpoints) to the British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh. By analyzing these reports, it is possible to gain a sense not only of what was going on in Germany in these years, but also what leading officials in the German states thought about the political situation, as well as what the envoys thought of the German situation at this moment.

Research Tasks: I will need two or three individuals to go through the British Foreign Office reports. In the summer of 2024, I visited the National Archives in London and copied hundreds of these files. They are handwritten in fairly legible English and should not be difficult to decipher. I will provide researchers with a list of names and keywords to look out for when working through these documents. If time allows, I will also begin teaching students how to use Transcribus, an AI-powered transcription tool, whose purpose is to speed the process of transcribing letters from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries (most of which were written in so-called Chancellorship Handwriting) into readable typewritten script.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended: Knowledge of the German or French languages, even if quite rudimentary, is always helpful but by no means required, as most of the texts we will be working on are in English.
Required: the patience to decode the handwriting of the British envoys, whose texts we will be reading.
Required: sufficient curiosity about this particular moment in German and European history to spend hours working through primary and secondary sources on this topic.