What Women Directors Say

India, Bollywood, Gender Studies, and Media Studies

Research Mentor: Ms. Rebecca Peters, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Religion, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: rlp08c@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: Open to all majors; Film Studies and Gender Studies may gain the most from my project
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: Wednesday, Sept. 6 from 2:30pm-3:00pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93103584532)
Thursday, Sept. 7 from 6:30pm-7:00pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/99290131375)
Friday, Sept. 8 from 12:00pm-12:30pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/99151848823)
Recorded link: https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/csNs8bk4BEAo6fe5spd9K3qAs40fDvEwvrmmubjYqAlJxOi-xYFdAK8rDvlWCoXe.96SOcavVY6f9jycr

Project Description

The UROP student will transcribe interviews completed by the Mentor last year while in India, and, if time, interviews available on the internet. The interviews are all in English and recorded on a digital format. Each student will train with the mentor about how to transcribe effectively, including the format. The students will then utilize NVivo with the Mentor to find commonalities and repeated phrases/ideas.

Research Tasks: The mentee will transcribe interviews, ensuring complete voracity. Then the student will work with the mentor to find points of commonality.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Access to Word documents or the equivalent is the only required technology. Though having headphone or earbuds to be able to listen carefully will also be useful. The Mentor will provide NVivo and always work with the students on this part of the project.
All interviews are conducted in English. No previous knowledge of any Indian language, film, or transcribing is necessary.

"The fear you’ll be the same person when you go home and the fear you won’t": A narrative inquiry of first generation in college student recipients of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship

First Generation in College Students (FGCSs); study abroad; transformative learning theory

Research Mentor: None needed (first name fine) Latika Young, She/they
Department, College, Affiliation: Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, Undergraduate Studies
Contact Email: latika.young@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): N/A
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors! Those in education, social sciences, and folks interested in qualitative research and creative approaches to data elicitation might be particularly interested in this project.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: The project should average around 5-7 hours/week. Exact schedule can be determined together. My hope is that we can occasionally meet in-person all together, though most of the work and meetings can be remote and performed individually. , Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Feel free to come to either, if you are available. Please do try to arrive at the starting time, and I will ask you to please have your camera on and have your mic ready to participate, as some interaction will be expected. If you cannot attend, don't worry--please still email if you are interested in this project:
Session 1: Tuesday, Sept. 5 from 4 to 4:30 p.m. : https://fsu.zoom.us/j/99969107583
Session 2: Friday, Sept. 8 from 1 to 1:30 p.m.: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93132191300

Project Description

The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry is to better understand the experiences of first generation in college students (FGCSs) who have received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. This study will help explain how the FGCS participants themselves understand their experiences with the Gilman Scholarship and the role they feel the program played in their post-graduation lives. Underrepresentation within education abroad for FCGSs remains a federal and higher education institutional concern, especially since the literature suggests FGCSs experience amplified benefit from engaging internationally. The Gilman Scholarship, then, provides a crucial tool for addressing this underrepresentation, since 50% of the Gilman Scholarship awardees identify as first generation in college students (Gilman Scholarship, n.d.). Currently, there is limited investigation of the outcomes of the Gilman Scholarship program (Stedman, 2017; Valuy & Shao, 2021) and minimal scholarship that explores the specific experiences of FGCSs within the Gilman Scholarship program as disaggregated from other underrepresented students (Garner, 2018; Thompson-Jones, 2012). It is not known how FGCSs understand their experiences with the Gilman Scholarship, particularly in terms of how they perceive the impacts of their participation in the program on their longer-term personal, social, academic, and professional trajectories. As a narrative inquiry, this project will utilize focus group, creative reflection/data elicitation (i.e. "Cabinet of Curiosities" and narrative timelines), and individual interviews for data collection.


Research Tasks: Literature review for first part, then help with conducting and transcribing focus group(s), creative reflection elicitation, and individual interviews.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: No specific skills are required! An interest in qualitative research/narrative inquiry would be valuable as well as an interest in study abroad, high impact practices/transformative learning, and/or the experiences of first generation in college students.

3D Culturing of Cancer Cells and the Effects of Various Nanoparticle Treatments

3D cell culture, nanomaterials, biomaterials, viability assays, chemotherapy

Research Mentor: Dr. Navneet Kaur,
Department, College, Affiliation: Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: nk22u@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Jamel Ali
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: jali@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 6-8, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, Sept. 6 from 7:00-7:30PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/6282599922)

Project Description

The exploration of three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models and the potential applications of nanoparticle-based therapies has emerged as a promising platform for the cancer research. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models often fail to accurately mimic the complex microenvironment of solid tumors, which limits their translational relevance. However, 3D cell culture systems offer a more physiologically relevant platform to study cancer progression and therapeutic interventions. The primary objective of this project is to investigate the effects of different nanoparticle treatments on cancer cells using a 3D cell culture model. By utilizing a 3D culture system, the project aims to better simulate the intricate interactions between cancer cells, extracellular matrix components, and neighboring cells found within tumor microenvironments. The study will focus on understanding how various nanoparticles can influence cancer cell growth, invasion, and response to treatment in a more accurate representation of in vivo conditions.

Research Tasks: Student(s) will (1) conduct literature review of 3D cell culture and nanoparticle synthesis, (2) synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials, (3) mammalian cell culture, (4) Cell imaging (brightfield and fluorescent imaging), (5) Cell viability assay (6) Data collection/data analysis. The student should document all their lab activities and create a report by the end of the summer.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: A strong enthusiasm for science and engineering, coupled with a sincere eagerness for continuous learning. Proficiently managing project commitments alongside academic responsibilities and other obligations.

Gradient descent on the unit sphere

Calculus, potential energy, optimization, gradient descent

Research Mentor: None; just write "Hello Alexander" Alexander Reznikov,
Department, College, Affiliation: Mathematics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: areznikov@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: Preferably mathematics or computer science, but open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7, 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

Imagine putting four repelling particles on the sphere. They will move around the sphere until they reach the "ground state": a position where the combined potential energy has a local minimum. If we are not too unlucky, they will actually stop at the global minimum: i.e., the regular pyramid.
The goal of this project is to figure out what does it mean to be unlucky and experimentally show that this is a very rare situation.

This is done using "gradient descent", which is technically taught in Calculus 3 (MAC 2313). We throw four random points on the sphere and move it, one little step at a time, in the direction where the energy decreases (a.k.a., in the direction of the gradient).

Research Tasks: Collect specific data of initial random configurations that are "good" (i.e., end up at the global minimum) and "bad".

If time allows, do the same in higher dimensions (this is not strongly expected).

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Calculus sequence, some coding skills.
Recommended: Having C++ or Python (preferably) installed, some confidence in coding.

We will discuss the approach, and you can learn the specific tools/packages along the way, but I would strongly prefer you to be able to open Python on your own.

Microscopic BioArt

Photography, Microscopy, Art, Microbiology, Digital time-lapse photography

Research Mentor: Dr. Jamel Ali,
Department, College, Affiliation: Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: jali@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
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: 4-5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, Sept. 5 from 6 – 7 PM : https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95173209253
-or-
You are welcome to email me to schedule a time to meet in the MagLab or in in B373F on the Engineering Campus, Building B.

Project Description

Assistants will learn basic and advanced light microscopy methods and use these techniques to create artistic photography of microscopic life.

Research Tasks: Assistants will be asked to use Image and Video Processing software such as Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, and NIS Elements. They will also assist with microbiological sample preparation.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Passion for imaging along with willingness to learn and ability to balance time to work on the project while taking classes and managing other responsibilities and social activities.

Wave Generated Recirculation in Kelp Beds

ocean waves kelp nonlinear laboratory

Research Mentor: Kevin Speer,
Department, College, Affiliation: Scientific Computing, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: kspeer@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Cathrine Hancock
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: chancock@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Physics
Math
Engineering
Meteorology
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8, 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 will be a laboratory experiment designed to simulate wave action on a coastal kelp bed and the associated nonlinear wave-driven recirculation. The RA will help set up the experimental apparatus, conduct experiments, and analyze data for fluid circulation, both fluctuating and mean flow.

Research Tasks: literature review, data collection, data analysis, writing

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: required motivation to work in a laboratory setting with hands-on activity in a fluids wave tank, use power tools and fabricate simple devices for measurement.

***Thermal Cycling of Florida Soil and Rock

Climate Change, Civil Engineering, Florida, Soil and Rock Properties, Lab and Field Testing

Research Mentor: Dr. Scott Wasman,
Department, College, Affiliation: Civil and Environmental Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: swasman@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: Soil Science, Civil Engineering
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10 hrs, 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

As temperature extremes are anticipated to persist in the near term, there is a need to know how the extremes and cycling will influence the shallow subsurface engineering properties, essential to the integrity of ubiquitous infrastructure elements. An initial step to knowing is monitoring ground temperature and related properties, coupled with surface data and laboratory measurements of thermal conductivity and heat capacity. The primary task of the research project is to collect data from monitoring locations in Tallahassee and make laboratory measurements of thermal properties of soil and rock at the the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering campus.

Research Tasks: Lit. Review, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Report Findings

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: efficient at using excel, report writing, motivated, and efficient

Genetic Engineering of Cell Cycle Genes in Pancreatic Beta Cells

CRISPR, diabetes, beta cells, genetic engineering

Research Mentor: Julia Wang,
Department, College, Affiliation: Biomedical Sciences, Medicine
Contact Email: julia.wang@med.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Pamela Sanchez
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: p.sandoval-sanchez@med.fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Biology, Biochemistry, IMS, Pre-med
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the blood glucose is dysregulated mainly due to a shortage of pancreatic beta cells. There are two major types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the autoimmune destruction of beta cells which results in a decrease of insulin production. Type 2 diabetes develops when there are not enough functional beta cells to compensate for higher insulin demand often as a result of obesity.
Overall, there is a decrease in beta cell mass in both types of diabetes which can lead to other health issues. As of now, there are treatments to manage diabetes, but there is no cure yet. One of the approaches currently being studied is genetic editing to increase beta cell proliferation. If beta cells are replenished at a higher rate, the onset of diabetes will be delayed, and diabetes can potentially be reversed.
Adenoviral vectors have high transduction efficiency in pancreatic beta cells. Leveraging this system, in our previous research, we have established a high throughput cloning strategy to generate large-scale CRISPR knockout constructs. These constructs can be used for targeted loss-of-function genetic modulation in pancreatic beta cells. Specifically, we have designed these constructs to target known cell cycle inhibitors. Loss-of-function in these negative regulators of cell cycle is expected to promote beta cell proliferation.
To complement this CRISPR knockout strategy, we are currently developing CRISPR mediated transcriptional activation system (CRISPRa). Instead of mediating targeted loss-of-function, the CRISPRa system mediates targeted gain-of-function. Using CRISPRa, we can target known cell cycle activators. Gain-of-function in these positive regulators of cell cycle is expected to promote beta cell proliferation as well. Combining the CRISPR loss-of-function and the CRISPRa tools, we will be able to perform targeted genetic modulation in either direction to achieve maximal effect in promoting beta cell replication.


Research Tasks: cloning of different CRISPR-gRNA constructs, transformation, plasmid isolation, transduction, adenovirus production, and cell culture.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Basic molecular biology skills are recommended.

Aging-dependent regulation of taste preference

Behavior, Aging, Taste, Chemosensory, Drosophila

Research Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Brown, She/Her
Department, College, Affiliation: Biological Sciences, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: EBBrown@bio.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Biological Sciences, Neuroscience, related STEM fields
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday September 6 from 2:30 to 3:00 PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArc-yrpj0rEtS2siVIUO9_rhnYmzUllymu)
Thursday September 7 from 2:30 to 3:00 PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJctde-rrD0rHtKXHzZzXpx0tID9okcaVQ13)

Project Description

Deficits in smell and taste are associated with healthy aging, as well as numerous neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, how these changes occur, particularly with respect to taste, remains largely unexplored. We use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model. We previously found that aging impairs taste response to sugars, but not fatty acids, revealing modality-specific deficits in taste. This decline in sugar taste response is associated with changes in gene expression within the neurons that are activated by sugars. Students joining this project will confirm these findings using quantification of gene expression, behavioral assays, and statistical analysis, with the ultimate goal of characterizing novel candidate gene(s) that function in these sensory neurons during aging.

Research Tasks: Students will begin by learning care and maintenance of fly lines, executing behavioral experiments, and running statistical analysis. Advanced techniques include performing dissections, immunohistochemistry, and quantification of gene expression.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: A broad understanding of the fundamental concepts in genetics and molecular biology is recommended. Students must be reliable and be detail-oriented. Training in Drosophila husbandry and techniques will be provided.

Artificial Intelligence Applications: Understanding Media and Communication Policy Questions

Artificial Intelligence, intellectual property, speech, privacy, digital media

Research Mentor: Prof. Stephen McDowell, He/Him
Department, College, Affiliation: Communication, Communication and Information
Contact Email: smcdowell@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 6
Relevant Majors: Open to all.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: Five hours per week., Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, Sept 6, 3:00-5:00 pm https://fsu.zoom.us/my/stevemcdowell

Thursday, Sept 7, 1:00-2:30 pm https://fsu.zoom.us/my/stevemcdowell

Project Description

There is much uncertainty about how artificial intelligence software will be used in media and communication applications. Already we see images, videos, sounds, and text being generated. These digital media AI applications raise questions for speech, privacy, intellectual property, and network security, to name a few. The project will seek to prepare compilations of published text materials, audio, and video resources that raise questions about social, economic, policy and other issues we should consider when looking at AI uses. Students will prepare their own compendium of sources/bibliography and their own paper exploring a specific theme around artificial intelligence applications and media and communication policy issues. We will meet weekly to share updates. These papers will be the basis for presentations in Spring 2024, and also become part of the resources for my course MMC4200 Media Law and Digital Innovation.

Research Tasks: Students will undertake literature review and online research in library databases and other platforms to prepare a compendium of sources on AI and their area of focus.

Students will prepare their own thematic analysis of key questions or clusters of issues that should be considered as we make use of artificial intelligence applications.

We will meet once per week, mostly virtually, to share ideas, and for students to provide updates on their work, and discuss emerging themes.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Using library databases (can seek training from library)

Organizing and preparing a research list or annotated bibliography around a theme (we will discuss).

Identifying key questions in the thematic area, writing up discussion.

Presenting your analysis at the Undergraduate Research conference in Spring 2024 (we will prepare and practice)