UROP Project | Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement

mathematics, reasoning, argumentation, cognition

Research Mentor: Lauren Sprague, She/Her
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: sprague@psy.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: 1
Relevant Majors: Psychology, Education, Mathematics
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 6,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Friday, 9/6 from 2:30-3:00, 3:00-3:30, & 3:30-4:00
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92895250432

Project Description

This study will investigate various potential factors related to undergraduates' understandings of division by zero. Previous research shows that many children and adults, even teachers, do not know that a number divided by zero has no numerical quotient (it is "undefined"). Those who know this fact are often unable to explain it when prompted. The types of arguments teachers and textbooks use to explain this mathematical fact may contribute to students' understandings. Additionally, students' understandings of certain explanations may be related to individual differences in cognition, such as the tendency to reflect before answering a question. This study will address both of these potential factors in detail.

Research Tasks: literature review, survey creation, human-subjects data collection, data entry and management, data analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: interpersonal communication (required), proficiency using a computer (required), proficiency using Qualtrics (recommended), proficiency using Excel (recommended)

Mentoring Philosophy

Mentoring undergraduate researchers has been the most rewarding aspect of my career. When I begin a mentorship, I prioritize learning my mentee's interests, strengths and goals, then providing scaffolding and, if necessary, educating myself to help get them achieve those goals. For example, one mentee of mine hoped to eventually earn a doctorate, and expressed great interest in studying anxiety. My lab does not typically study anxiety, but I helped her identify literature that connected her interest to my expertise, and we met frequently to discuss this literature until she generated her own research project design, which I helped her execute. Through this process, I checked in with my mentee to ensure she felt independence and ownership of her work, as well as support and guidance from me. After completing her project, this mentee was admitted to FSU's Psychology PhD program. Another mentee planned to apply to medical school and was less interested in designing her own study, but demonstrated strength in data collection. Knowing that medical programs value interpersonal skills and procedural precision, I assigned this mentee to train and supervise the others, guiding her through this role until she felt confident leading independently. Through this role, she had the opportunity to demonstrate several specific skills that medical schools ask recommendation letter writers to evaluate.

To summarize, this mentor-mentee relationship will be mutually beneficial. I do not treat mentees as employees hired to complete my project, but as developing people to whom I owe guidance and support.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H9kWrp0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

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microfinance, inclusive finance, borrowing and lending, low-income borrowers, technology, artificial intelligence, credit scoring

Research Mentor: Prof. Paromita Sanyal, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Sociology, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: psanyal@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: 1
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,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, September 4, 1-1:30 pm, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/94125193736
Thursday, September 5, 1-1:30 pm, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/94125193736

Project Description

The use of modern technologies has percolated to the microfinance industry, and, with this, microfinance is transitioning from being tie-oriented to also being technology-oriented. Researchers have noted that AI-enabled decision systems and rapid technological advancements are transforming the microfinance industry, which used to be exclusively relationship-oriented (Koefer, Lemken, and Pauls 2023). Microfinance firms are actively investing in AI-enabled tools to help them achieve their goals of giving loans to marginalized groups without access to conventional banking, expanding their borrower base, while reducing risk of defaults and fraudulent transactions, reducing costs, and maintaining profitability (Mondol et al. 2024). For instance, some microfinance institutions use credit-scoring systems for risk-based pricing of loans. These systems use a variety of data analyzed by AI-powered machine-learning (machine sets the rule) to generate a single metric based to determine creditworthiness of borrowers (Anderson 2007; Finlay 2012; Gunnarson et al. 2021). There are MFIs that are using AI-enabled classification-based algorithms trained on non-traditional data to evaluate the lending risk of customers. The data used for building these models are sourced from social media engagement, mobile phone data (phone manufacturer and recharging history), bill payment data, and location data (cite). Then there is MobiScore, a scoring model trained with mobile network usage data that is used for estimating the financial risk of borrowers (San Pedro et al. 2015). Sociologists have begun studying the human implications of credit scoring and tracking (DeVille 2019; Fourcade and Healy 2013; Wherry 2019; Wherry, Seefeldt, and Alvarez 2019).
FinTechs are developing technological products aimed at taking advantage of ever more comprehensive databases and complex algorithms to predict default risk, which is critical for maintaining profitability (Johnson 2019). Fairness and social welfare have always been important concerns for microfinance lending. These concerns become even more critical since the use of AI-driven modern technologies and the operation of FinTech firms raise issues regarding unwanted bias in lending practices and its social welfare consequences (Johnson 2019). Another important goal of microfinance is the inclusion and empowerment of women for achieving gender equity in access to economic resources and in the household. This goal can be impacted by fintechs and the inclusive finance sector adopting AI, as has been shown in African countries (Ahmed 2021). If the use of AI-driven technology is mismanaged in microfinance, this “inclusive finance” model may end up excluding those that need it the most. ...
It is therefore timely to propose an exploratory investigation of the use of AI-enabled technologies in the microfinance industry in India. India tops other South Asia countries in poverty - 13% of its population lives in poverty as of 2021 (World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform). Notably, India is also in the top position globally as the largest microfinance market and one of the fastest growing FinTech markets.
Microfinance in India includes the federal and state governments as dominant players with their women’s Self-Help Group (SHG) based delivery of microfinance (financed by nationalized banks) in pursuit of the social welfare goals of reducing poverty and women’s empowerment. There is also a plethora of commercialized MFIs, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), small finance banks (SFBs), and large private banks, such as Bandhan and HSBC, offering microfinance services to rural and urban citizens. The total number of loans disbursed by MFIs in India is reported to be 205 lakhs (JAS’23). 41% of the microfinance market share (in terms of loans disbursed and portfolio outstanding) is in the hands of Non-Banking Financial Companies specializing in Microfinance (NBFC-MFIs). Overall, today, microfinance has become an important source of credit for millions of economically marginalized people in India to meet their credit needs. For many of them microfinance loans are their only alternative to borrowing from family and friends, where personal dignity is put on the line, and from moneylenders, where there is the lurking possibility of exploitation and violence. ...
My proposed project will examine how new technologies are being developed and diffused in the inclusive finance sector in India, with a special focus on the microfinance industry. It will aim to understand the logics and rationalities fueling these technologies, their modalities of operation and outcomes, how they translate to borrower screening and authentication practices, and how individuals interact with new financial technologies and systems of financial knowledge. It will explore new concerns the use of technology in microfinance presents, especially from the lens of its social welfare goals and given that the developers and industry operators are at a far remove from their low-income clientele. For instance, fairness-related concerns of developers, lenders, and borrowers that may be emerging will be an important thing to investigate. It will examine if these technological transformations in microfinance are fostering the development of new subjectivities among product developers, lenders, lending agents, and borrowers. Finally, it will explore the gendered ramifications of technology in microfinance, where most borrowers in India are women. The project will be an exploratory study, pursuing these questions in an open-ended manner, attentive to finding new information, and aimed at establishing foundational knowledge of this phenomenon. Exploratory studies are best suited for studying emergent phenomenon for which established knowledge is lacking, making the conventional hypothesis-testing model of research less appropriate.

Research Tasks: Literature gathering and review. The end product will be an annotated bibliography of a Reference list I will provide and adding to that reference list through searches conducted on WebofScience/ ResearchRabbit/ Google Scholar. This literature review will lead into developing a full research proposal that will be submitted for grants and executed in the next 3-5 years.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Excellent reading, comprehending, and writing skills. Good literature mining skills and the ability to search with WebofScience and ResearchRabbit. I will offer instruction on how to do it and expect the RA to be an enthusiastic learner.

Mentoring Philosophy

I will seek to understand the mentees goals and explain the value of the task they are conducting and how that integrates with their goals (i.e. building critical research skills).

Additional Information

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/oral-democracy

Link to Publications

https://cosspp.fsu.edu/sociology/faculty/paromita-sanyal/

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solar cells, photovoltaics, polymer electronics, organic solar cells

Research Mentor: Simon Y Foo,
Department, College, Affiliation: Electrical and Computer Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: foo@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: 4
Relevant Majors: Electrical engineering, chemistry
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Design and fabricate dye-sensitized solar cells, with the goal of optimizing the power conversion efficiency (PCE).

Research Tasks: Literature review, review of organic chemistry, basic electronics, circuit analysis, data collection and analysis, writing technical reports

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: electronics, circuit analysis, basic chemistry
Recommended: organic chemistry, data analysis, technical writing

Mentoring Philosophy

Identifying mentees’ goals * Evaluating mentees’ understanding *Evaluating mentees’ talents and building on them * Developing a relationship founded on mutual respect * Giving mentees’ ownership of their work and promoting accountability * Sharing your own experience * Creating an interactive environment for learning * Identifying what motivates each mentee * Balancing belief with action and experience * Creating a safe environment in which mentees feel that is acceptable to fail and learn from their mistakes * Encouraging growth through challenges * Promoting learning through inquiry

Additional Information

Link to Publications

www.eng.famu.fsu.edu/ece/people/foo

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polymer chemistry, polymer electronics, polymers, solar cells

Project Description

Design and fabrication of organic/polymer solar cells, characterization, and optimization of power conversion efficiency (PCE)

Research Tasks: Literature review, fabricate organic solar cells, data collection and analysis, writing technical reports/papers

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Electronics, circuit analysis, organic chemistry

Mentoring Philosophy

Additional Information

Link to Publications

www.eng.famu.fsu.edu/ece/people/foo

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focus groups, qualitative, learning disabilities, translational research, dyslexia

Research Mentor: Dr. Denisha Campbell, She/Her/Her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University/ Florida Center for Reading Research , N/A
Contact Email: dc16m@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: 4
Relevant Majors: Psychology
Education
Communication Science and Disorders
Sociology
Project Location: Zoom
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Zoom Link - https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95530352155
Tuesday 9/3/24 from 2:30 - 3:00

Project Description

This project is one component of a multi-million-dollar interdisciplinary grant that aims to address the research to practice gap associated with the identification and treatment of children with learning disabilities in language, word reading, and reading comprehension. This project is focused on Project 3 which uses an implementation science approach to better understand how to develop sustainable process for assessment systems in authentic school settings.

Research Tasks: Research tasks include training to learn how to code qualitative data, training on the overall project goals and fidelity practices, coding the qualitative data, and familiarization with the related literature for the project.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: RAs need access to Redcap, excel, attention to detail, and access to Zoom. Must have adherence to deadlines, CITI training for IRB compliance and the capacity to complete work in a timely manner.

Mentoring Philosophy

I believe that mentoring students is a collaborative journey where both I and my mentees can learn and grow. My goal is to foster an environment where curiosity is encouraged, and students feel empowered to explore new ideas, ask questions, and challenge themselves. I also believe in developing relationships based on mutual respect and accountability on both parts to promote productivity and balance.

Additional Information

Zoom recording from roundtables - https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/XYnt_vcJ6NmXb7b2VkFlmVkhZDO-hRCi6QXVRggVRCnhBAHqriRsKod4SeDl1pAN.Z8RyctqZ0tYGWt9t?startTime=1725388558000

Link to Publications

https://fcrr.org/projects/learning-disabilities-translational-science-collective-building-florida-ldrc

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suicide risk, virtual reality, ecological momentary assessment, psychophysiology, intervention development, theory refinement

Research Mentor: Dr. Sarah Louise Brown, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: sbrown@psy.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: Psychology and related fields
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

How does someone go from thinking about suicide to engaging in suicidal behaviors? This project aims to investigate processes involved in the development of suicidal ideation and the transition to suicidal behaviors. We use an experimental therapeutics approach to improve our understanding and theoretical models of suicide while directly informing the development of novel interventions that target mechanisms involved in suicide ideation and suicidal behaviors. We use a multi-method approach to examine short-term fluctuations in suicidal processes both in controlled laboratory settings and ecologically valid real-world situations. Our studies use a combination of
1) virtual reality tasks, affective and suicide-related imagery tasks, social interaction tasks, decision-making tasks etc.
2) neurophysiology (electrocardiography, electrodermal activity, electroencephalography)
3) ecological momentary assessment
4) clinical interviews and self-reports

Research Tasks: - Conduct literature reviews on relevant topics (e.g., suicidal imagery, virtual reality interventions, ecological momentary assessment and suicide risk)
- Assist with study implementation and data collection, including in-person experiments involving virtual reality and neurophysiology
- Help develop surveys, measures, and experimental tasks to capture suicidal processes and related risk factors
- Assist with study management and participant recruitment
- Assist in quality checking and coding of interview, self-report, behavioral, and neurophysiology data
- Assist in analyzing data and preparing study findings for publication, presentation, and dissemination

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required:
- Eagerness to learn and curiosity
- Positive professional demeanor
- Interest in learning how we study suicide and other psychological phenomena
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Recommended:
- Basic statistical knowledge, including use of statistics programs ( e.g., SPSS, R)
- Familiarity with survey tools (e.g., Qualtrics, RedCap)
- Programming experience (e.g., Python, Matlab)

Mentoring Philosophy

The mentor-mentee relationship is the cornerstone of scientific progress. This relationship should be mutually beneficial, fostering growth for both individuals and positively contributing to the field of psychological science. My goal is to create a supportive environment where students can explore the scientific process, gain insights into clinical psychology, develop their own scientific passions, and reflect on their personal and professional growth.

I aim to guide my students in understanding the rigors and rewards of scientific inquiry, encouraging them to ask meaningful questions, think critically, and engage with complex problems. At the same time, I strive to cultivate independence and self-reliance.
My mentorship is built on open communication, trust, and mutual respect. I encourage my students to articulate their goals and provide them with opportunities to achieve these objectives through research projects, professional development, or experiential learning. I firmly believe in setting clear expectations and matching the effort my students put forth. I see this balance as not just important, but critical to their growth and confidence as junior scientists and to the productivity of our lab.

As a mentor, my goal is to inspire a passion for learning and discovery. I aim to help students develop the skills and confidence they need to make meaningful contributions in their chosen fields and communities. Each mentorship is a partnership that evolves with time and effort, and I hope that it will have a lasting, positive impact on both of us and on the science we seek to advance.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://drsarahbrown.squarespace.com/announcements

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collegiate recovery programs, literature review, college student health

Research Mentor: Dr. Chelsea Shore, she/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Association of Recovery in Higher Education and the Collegiate Recovery Research Lab, N/A
Contact Email: chelsea.shore06@gmail.com
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: Virtual
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

This descriptive database is composed of known empirical studies on the impacts of Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs). We identified, reviewed, and coded eligible studies to help us better understand the CRP research landscape and are delighted to now present it here as a resource for the field. The research team categorized and summarized items as follows: Lead author, supporting author(s), journal name, journal discipline, year, title, methodology/epistemology, analyses, key findings, social justice/diversity/equity/inclusion themes, theoretical or conceptual framework, and integrative behavioral health areas. Journal publication outlets as dissemination options for future research in the field of collegiate recovery were categorized according to: journal aims/scope, discipline, metrics, dominant methods, submission dates, and special projects. To ensure inter-rater reliability, all items were reviewed a second time by the PI.

Research Tasks: Update the database with recent publications; categorizing, outlining/summarizing each article to update data graphics

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: All levels of experience are welcomed

Mentoring Philosophy

As an instructor and mentor, I encourage students to research, critique, and think critically. My personal goals include supporting future generations of young scholars; I have mentored 30 unique students through 23 different positions over the past four years (2020-2023). In spring 2023, I mentored 15 undergraduate students with varying levels of capabilities through four mentoring programs (UROP, ERP, LIFT, Syracuse Internship program). Two of my mentees are also part of national fellowship programs: SAFE Project Student Leadership Academy and the NASPA & NOLES Undergraduate Fellows Program (N2UFP). I encourage my mentees to acknowledge, research, and confront disparities in their field of work or study. Nearly all my student mentees can be classified as one or more minority categories: first-generation college student, underrepresented minority (Black, Latinx, multiracial, South/Southeast Asian), LGBT+, low-income, child of incarcerated parent(s), military veterans, and immigrants. I am recognized for setting a high bar and investing time in meeting with students to intentionally build social capital among diverse mentees and develop assignments that would uniquely benefit their professional goals. In other words, I do not approach mentoring as a “one size fits all” model, even across similar mentoring programs (e.g., UROP). I make great efforts to individualize the mentoring experience for my students, adapting projects or supervisory styles to meet students where they are and help them get where they want to go.

Additional Information

This is an unpaid research assistantship that facilitates access to two different research groups (the Recovery Science Research Collaborative and the Collegiate Recovery Research Lab) where student research assistants can contribute to peer-review publication papers.

Link to Publications

https://collegiaterecovery.org/research-database/

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GIS, PROGRAMMING, DATA INTEGRATION

Research Mentor: terry@thetrakker.com Terry Ryan,
Department, College, Affiliation: TALLAHASSEE REGION ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP, N/A
Contact Email: terry@thetrakker.com
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: terry@thetrakker.com
Faculty Collaborators: Terry Ryan
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: GEORGRAPHY, GIS PROGRAMMING
Project Location: FOR MEETINGS: PEOPLES SOUTH BANK MEETING ROOM, OTHERWISE, STUDENT CAN WORK ANYWHERE
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 HRS,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Help maintain and update an existing water quality Arc-GIS website (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/86366d848de944058790109ab405c2ce/page/Page--1/) with new functions and research and integrate date for various layers. Student should already be proficient in Arc-GIS or similar GIS system.

Research Tasks: 1. Be trained by FSU Geography professor familiar with site already
2. Learn various water quality data resources and become familiar with how to download data and integrate with existing GIS site
3. Determine if existing data needs to be update from these sources
4. Review project list for new layers, determine data sources and obtain data, create new layer and integrate data

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Familiar with Arc-GIS or similar application required
Ability to determine sources of new GIS water quality data

Mentoring Philosophy

Once familiarity with our Arc-GIS website is accomplished, a list of projects will be created including an agreed upon timeline for completion. This will be done with meetings at Peoples South Bank meeting room. From there, I expect updates twice a week and questions immediately and meetings at the bank every other week or at Starbucks near the campus. A calendar of days the student will not be available should be provided at the first meeting. I should be contacted immediately if something occurs preventing work to be done at anytime.

Additional Information

It's my policy that a Letter of Recommendation will be provided at the end of the UROP term when the student researcher has worked at least six (6) months.

Link to Publications

www.treg1.org , https://www.facebook.com/groups/412536726345011

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courts, law, judicial behavior, public support for courts

Research Mentor: Martín Gandur,
Department, College, Affiliation: Department of Political Science, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: mgandur@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: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

I have two projects.

Project 1: This project studies how citizens react to politically salient judicial decisions around the world. We will combine (1) yearly cross-national survey data from different sources, and (2) salient judicial rulings from courts around the world. Ideally, these data will allow us to explore survey items asking people about their attitudes about the judiciary to examine (1) overall trends, (2) whether citizens' attitudes about courts change after politically salient decisions, and (3) if there are differences between subgroups (for example, people that support the executive and those who support an opposition party).

Project 2: This project focuses on Latin American courts (primarily, Argentina's Supreme Court). Compared to the US Supreme Court, Latin American supreme courts usually deal with many more cases and have different procedures on how to decide these cases. This project will identify legally and politically salient cases decided or to be decided by these courts, starting with the Argentinian Supreme Court. Then, we will collect thorough information about each of these cases: the court's decision, the type of decision (fully decided, dismissed on procedural grounds, rejected certiorari, etc.), other relevant stages (orally arguments, public hearings, amicus briefs, etc.), the time the court took to hand down the decision, the parties and laws involved, and the internal case workflow within the court (among other things). Once we have these data, we will try to answer different questions that are related to strategic judicial decision-making: why some cases are dismissed at the court, why the court takes longer to hand down some decisions, why the court decided to hold public hearings or invite amicus to file briefs, and the strategic timing of the court's decision.

Research Tasks: Data collection: identifying and downloading open-access surveys; collecting/scraping information about court cases (from official websites, existing databases, and media);

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Spanish (required for project 2)
Some knowledge of R or similar statistical programming software (recommended)
Web scraping (recommended)

Mentoring Philosophy

General mentoring philosophy: I take a collaborative, non-hierarchical (horizontal) approach when working with RAs. The aim is for both the Mentor and RAs to be equally invested in and excited about the projects in particular and social science research in general.
More about mentoring: I care that RAs get something useful from this experience. This can take different forms: learning about new topics, having some exposure to data-collection procedures, learning some basics of statistical programming, etc.
Tasks: I will teach and provide RAs with all the resources they need to complete the tasks of the project. I will work alongside RAs on may of these tasks. We will create a handbook as we progress with the data collection and coding so that we keep track of what you have been doing (and improve procedures).
Goals: We will set multiple feasible goals to keep track of our progress. I will make sure that these goals are clear, but this doesn't mean they will be fixed. We will adjust our goals based on our progress.
Meetings: We will plan to meet weekly or bi-weekly (in person or remotely).
Workload expectations: I don't know how long it will take to complete each tasks. There are no a priori expectations about how fast RAs should progress. We will learn all this as we work on the project. You will never be asked to work more hours than stipulated.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://martingandur.com/

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Ecological Momentary Assessment; survey; digital health; HIV

Research Mentor: Dan Song,
Department, College, Affiliation: Nuring, Nursing
Contact Email: ds23bm@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 hours,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Sept. 3 through Friday, Sept. 6.

Project Description

Older people living with HIV (PLWH) often face a disproportionate burden of aging-related conditions. Despite the crucial role of regular physical activity (PA) in promoting overall well-being, many older PLWH lead sedentary lifestyles. Current research on PA correlates primarily relies on cross-sectional designs or longitudinal studies, which may not capture how daily experiences impact PA levels among this population. This study aims to fill this gap by utilizing an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design.
This EMA study involves bursts of mobile-based surveys with older PLWH, administered four times a day over two consecutive weeks. To develop the EMA survey, we will initially identify potential time-varying predictors of PA through literature review and the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior (COM-B) framework. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with older PLWH to gauge the relevance of these items to their experiences.
Once the EMA survey is developed, participants will receive text messages containing the survey link, and informed consent will be obtained from each participant. Qualitative data from interviews will be independently analyzed by two researchers using directed content analysis. For quantitative data, the effects of within-person survey variables on PA measures will be tested using within-person multilevel models in SPSS (version 27, IBM Corp).
This study aims to shed light on the real-time predictors of PA among older PLWH, facilitating the development of personalized behavioral support interventions to promote PA and improve overall health outcomes in this population.

Research Tasks: Data collection and literature review

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Good communication skills are required.

Mentoring Philosophy

My mentoring philosophy is shaped by my own journey and the incredible mentors who have guided and empowered me throughout my career. Their influence taught me the transformative power of mentorship and inspired my commitment to providing the same for others.

1.Personalized Guidance. Every student and mentee brings unique strengths, challenges, and aspirations. I tailor my mentoring to meet each individual’s needs, drawing from my own experiences of receiving mentorship that was customized to my goals. For example, early in my career, a mentor took the time to understand my interests and encouraged me to pursue research that aligned with my passions. I aim to offer this same level of care and attention, helping mentees identify resources, navigate challenges, and build on their strengths to achieve their goals.
2. Mutual Respect and Empowerment. Mentorship is a two-way relationship built on mutual respect. My mentors created environments where I felt heard, valued, and supported—a model I emulate in my own mentoring. I listen attentively to my mentees’ perspectives, encourage autonomy, and provide constructive feedback that empowers them to take ownership of their learning and decision-making. My goal is to help them build the confidence and resilience needed to thrive in their careers and beyond.
3. Growth Through Collaboration. Collaboration has been central to my development as a scholar, and I emphasize this value in my mentoring. I view mentorship as a partnership where both mentor and mentee contribute and grow together.

Additional Information

Link to Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hF8F2BIAAAAJ&hl=en

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