Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program is designed to guide undergraduate students in the practice of research and expose them  to potential educational and research-oriented career paths. This is accomplished through faculty mentorship and training while students participate in a faculty member’s research or scholarly project. 

Faculty members (not students) submit a project application that identifies a student researcher. If awarded, the student researcher receives a summer stipend of $3,200 while they work on the SURE project (this work does not count for academic credit). Students generally work 15-20 hours per week over the course of 8-12 weeks in the summer. Students are also required to attend professional development sessions throughout the summer and present their work at the SURE Showcase in the fall. 

Through this experience, the program aims to  provide students with the opportunity to participate in individual research projects; to learn about the life of an active researcher; to learn about research-oriented careers; and to develop a long-term mentor relationship.

SURE 2023

Faculty: There was a faculty information session in February 23 2023 where the SURE team shared information about the faculty mentoring role, as well as the benefits and challenges related to working with undergraduate students. The deadline for this year was March 10, but see the Program Guidelines page for more information - we hope you can join us in the future!

Students: Interested in participating? Talk to a faculty member you've had about your desire to conduct research this summer through the SURE program. The faculty member can then submit an application for SURE and identify you as the student researcher.

In some cases, faculty are unable to identify student researchers for their SURE project, so if you are interested in being matched with a faculty member, please contact experienceplus@umich.edu.

Students who are interested in participating need to be current undergraduate UM-Dearborn students who will graduate December 2023 or after.

SURE 2023 Projects

CASL:

• Antimicrobial Efficacy of Nanoparticle Embedded Foley Catheters, Christopher Alteri, (faculty mentor), Molly Lesko (student researcher)

• Bioconjugation of Gold Nanoparticles, Krisanu Bandyopadhyay, (faculty mentor), Nazik Ebrahem (student researcher)

• Binding and Characterization of Novel Chemical Analogues to Detect Riboflavin Deficiency, Marilee Benore, (faculty mentor), Travis Branscum (student researcher)

• Changes in Rainfall Driven by Climate Change Impact Insect Biomass and Abundance, Anne Danielson-Francois, (faculty mentor), Jordyn Burks (student researcher)

• Alley Activation as Urban Acupuncture for Post-Industrial Cities: A Proof-of-Concept Approach, Paul Draus, (faculty mentor), Marlena Brown (student researcher)

• Study the Role of Cancer Cell Chirality During Detachment from the Primary Tumor, Jie Fan, (faculty mentor), Courtney Hadrian (student researcher)

• Role of Endosomal pH Regulation by NHE9 in Exosome Secretion, Kalyan Kondapalli, (faculty mentor), Mariam Duhaini (student researcher)

• Social Determinants of Energy Efficiency, Antonios Koumpias, (faculty mentor), Felix Silva (student researcher)

• Synthesis of Microbial Carbohydrate Antigens for Antibacterial Vaccine Development, Shannon Li, (faculty mentor), Maria Stoica (student researcher)

• Investigation of Aromatic Stacking in B2 Vitamin-Carrier Protein Interaction, Simona Marincean, (faculty mentor), Nathan Medawar (student researcher)

• “The Pandemic as a Portal?“ Covid, Agency, and the Carceral System, Anna Muller, (faculty mentor), Natalie Albrecht (student researcher)

• Environmental Health Research-to-Action: Assessing Impact, Carmel Price, (faculty mentor), Adam Almaleky (student researcher)

• Social Psychological Causes and Consequences of Participating in Multilevel Marketing, Harmony Reppond, (faculty mentor), Mariam Salmassi (student researcher)

• Clifftop Documentary, Adam Sekuler, (faculty mentor), Ava Abramowicz (student researcher)

• Effects of Seed and Fruit Packaging on Fruit Dispersal in Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), David Susko, (faculty mentor), Asma Jamil (student researcher)

• City Use of ARPA Funding, Dale Thomson, (faculty mentor), Erin Robinson (student researcher)

• Mechanisms of Heavy Metal Removal Using Microorganisms, Sonia Tiquia-Arashiro, (faculty mentor), Grace Pagnucco (student researcher)

• A Simpler Approach of Force Calibration in Cell, Suvranta Tripathy, (faculty mentor), Noah Biestek (student researcher)

• Baicalein Suppresses Tumorigenesis of the Progesterone-Sensitive ER𝛼 Positive of Breast Cancer Cells by Targeting Multiple Signaling Pathways, Besa Xhabija, (faculty mentor), Aidan Mclaughlin (student researcher)

CECS:

• Affect and Emotion in L3 Driving, Areen Alsaid, (faculty mentor), Caleb Nickens (student researcher)

• Electric Vehicle Owner’s’ Decision-Making in Selecting Charging Stations, Shan Bao, (faculty mentor), Freshta Noori (student researcher)

• Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Increased Trust in Machine Learning, Abdallah Chehade, (faculty mentor), Abdul Khan (student researcher)

• Effectiveness of an ACL Injury Prevention Program on Kinematic Performance in Amateur Youth Soccer Players, Amanda Esquivel, (faculty mentor), Kenny Conuel Oralde (student researcher)

• Measure of Perceived Design Feature of Vehicle Cockpit using VR in terms of Human-Centered Design, Sang-Hwan Kim, (faculty mentor), Sukayna Hamka (student researcher)

• Virtual Reality and User Accessibility, Bruce Maxim, (faculty mentor), Rehab Jadallah (student researcher) 

• A Haptic Interface for Interacting with a Digital Twin of a Soft Robot, Alireza Mohammadi, (faculty mentor), Harleen Gill (student researcher)

• Improved Polymer Recycling by Additive Manufacturing, Christopher Pannier, (faculty mentor), Anthony Safa (student researcher)

• Characterizing Geometrical Uncertainties in Additive Manufacturing of Metamaterials, Rafael Ruiz, (faculty mentor), Yuankai Chen (student researcher)

• Bird-Eye View Vehicle Detection, Zheng Song, (faculty mentor), Jonathan Schall (student researcher)

• Seeing Energy Injustice: An Interactive Map for Visualizing Utility Redlining in America, Wencong Su, (faculty mentor), Larico Andres (student researcher)

CEHHS:

• Creating an Oral History Archive of Ypsilanti's BIPOC & Working-Class Food Growers, Finn Bell, (faculty mentor), Briana Hurt (student researcher)

COB:

• The Use of ChatGPT Among Students, Jun He, (faculty mentor), Steven Hou (student researcher)

• Digital Market Strategies in the Korean Entertainment Industry, Kyungwon (Kyung) Lee, (faculty mentor), Kathy Bibang (student researcher)

Visit the Past Projects page for information about all previous SURE projects.