UH Undergraduate Research and Major Awards

"I can't thank OURMA enough for providing me with the means to travel to the 22nd Annual Philosophy and Religious Studies Undergraduate Conference and present my paper "Virtual Actions and Their Consequences"! It was an incredible opportunity getting to meet other students and faculty who were highly accomplished and as intensely interested in philosophy as I am. After my presentation, I was approached by several other students and faculty who wanted to talk further about my research, and in the span of a day, I gained many new connections and friends. Overall, I will never forget just how fun the entire event was! Presenting and hearing so many other interesting presentations made me excited to pursue graduate school and hopefully attend many more conferences in the future."

Cory Bush is an honors philosophy senior who traveled to Bakersfield, California to present his research on the morality of virtual actions at the 22nd Annual Philosophy and Religious Studies Undergraduate Conference! Cory has participated in both Mellon and PURS, and is conducting research through SURF this summer. Cory plans to pursue a PhD in philosophy after graduating from UH. OURMA is happy to make opportunities for students to share research possible with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship!✈️

The Honors College at the University of Houston
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH

"I am honored to receive a Study Abroad Grant from Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest and most prestigious all-discipline honor society in the U.S. The funds will be used to support my travel this summer to the Rusellae archaeological field school in Tuscany, Italy. This project provides hands-on training in stratigraphic excavation, GIS landscape mapping, skeletal analysis, and ancient DNA sampling. These experiences will allow me to add both archaeological technology and bioarchaeology methods to my repertoire. As an anthropology student interested in how past societies expressed identity and belief through ritual, the Rusellae site is especially compelling because of its funerary contexts from both the Republican and Imperial eras of Rome, which illustrate a religious and social transition from paganism to Christianity. I am also looking forward to exploring the beautiful country of Italy–its food, culture, and people.

Support from Phi Kappa Phi to fund my participation in the Rusellae field school this summer is especially meaningful as I prepare to graduate from UH and begin the application process for graduate programs, where I hope to continue exploring ancient Mediterranean archaeology and museum collections work."

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Congratulations to Alexandria Crosby, a 2026 Mellon Scholar, for receiving a Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant! Alexandria is a senior liberal studies major with minors in anthropology, classical studies, and philosophy. This will be Alexandria's second fieldwork travel as last summer, she participated in a UH abroad trip to excavate in Turkey. Join our office in congratulating Alexandria for her award!

College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH

"Attending the American Chemical Society Spring 2026 Conference has been an incredible opportunity to share my research and learn from the innovative work of fellow scientists. I am grateful I got the opportunity to present a poster on the synthesis and functionalization of Bismuth Nanoparticles and an oral presentation on the use of Bio-conjugated Gold Nanorods. Thank you to the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards for supporting this experience and to my mentors, Dr. Willson and Dr. Filgueira, for guiding me through this research."

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Check out biomedical engineering major and Spring 2026 PURS recipient Farah Al Hadad's travel to Atlanta, Georga to present her research at the American Chemical Society Spring 2026 Conference! Our office is happy to make opportunities to disseminate undergraduate research possible with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship!✈️

The Honors College at the University of Houston
UH Cullen College of Engineering

Congratulations to Milton Rosa, a computer engineering technology student who received a 2026 DoW SMART Scholarship!

Big congratulations to Milton Rosa 🎉

The computer engineering technology student has been selected as a 2026 SMART Scholarship recipient through the U.S. Department of Defense, a prestigious program providing full tuition, stipends, internships, and a direct path to a STEM career in national service.

With sights set on aerospace, defense, and critical infrastructure, Rosa is ready to make an impact where it matters most.

🔗 Read more: https://www.egr.uh.edu/news/202605/rosa-selected-dow%E2%80%99s-smart-scholarship

Congratulations to UH alum Logan Tantibanchachai for receiving a 2026 Hertog Constitutional Studies Fellowship!

"I presented my work on "Analyzing the Lack of EMS Support in Low-Income Houston Regions During Hurricane Season: Utilizing the EARTH Framework", which was inspired by a question raised by my high school mentees, as well as seeing the disastrous consequences of Hurricane Beryl and Harvey in our Houston communities. My work was highly noted by many public health professionals in bringing awareness to lack of clinical care in natural disasters. I was even awarded Distinguished Global Health Presenter!

During the conference, I had the delight of conversing with Dr. Nina Schwalbe, Ph.D, MPH, who is a nationally recognized public health leader who worked at UNICEF and led a government plan to deliver the Pfizer COVID vaccine. There were also other undergraduate and MPH students, along with experts of varying fields.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my research mentor, Dr. Andrew Kapral, as well as my high school mentees at PEERS and the rest of the HICH and PEERS project heads!"

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Oditi Sharma, an honors business major, travelled to Columbia University in New York to present her research at the National Premier Undergraduate Research Conference! We're happy to help student's like Oditi travel to share their work with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship✈️

The Honors College at the University of Houston
UH Bauer College of Business

"I had the opportunity this March to travel to John's Hopkins University to present my research at the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium. I presented a section of my senior honors thesis, "The Language of the Inanimate: Unstable Narrators and Nonlinear Time in Red Mars," at the symposium. This project, and my overall research, is centered on how different forms of narration can be used to narrate from nonhuman perspectives (and, more generally, how nonhumans appear in any narrative).

It was an honor to attend this symposium, and I am grateful for the help I received from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Rewards, as well as the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship."

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In March, English literature major Lily Fletcher presented her research at the Richard Macksey Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland! We are happy to make her sharing of her thesis work possible with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship!✈️

The Honors College at the University of Houston
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH

Join OURMA this summer for our Fulbright virtual workshop series! If you are interested in researching, studying, or teaching English abroad, see how that can be made possible with The Fulbright Program, a prestigious cultural exchange program. With this workshop series, you will learn how navigate the Fulbright process and craft a competitive application toward this incredible opportunity.

These virtual workshops span from July to August with each session being from 12-1pm. If you are ready to dive in and craft your future abroad, register for any of the listed workshops via our calendar on the OURMA website linked in the description!

“I'm grateful to have been part of such an unforgettable experience at the Ethics Medicine Innovation (EMI) Conference! Over two days, our team traveled from campus, attended sessions, and had the opportunity to present our poster, Ethical Considerations of Gene Therapy in Huntington’s Disease: A Review of AMT-130. We had so many meaningful conversations with attendees about gene therapy, ethics, access, and the future of medicine—it was amazing to see people engage with our work. Even more exciting—on day two, our group was honored with the Best Poster Award among all presenters! I'm so thankful for this opportunity, the memories, and the people we got to share it with.” - Faiza Sachwani

"Presenting at the Ethics Medicine Innovation (EMI) Conference was such a wonderful experience. The subjects that I learned about and the perspectives I heard from the other conference attendees were invaluable. I enjoyed listening to the insights of such a unique and diverse group of people. My group and I got to network with all kinds of professionals and scholars, from pediatric emergency physicians to philosophers of bioethics. I would love to return to this conference later on in my career when I can share even more knowledge and experiences with other people dedicated to improving the landscape of research and healthcare. I am extremely grateful to have been awarded the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship which allowed me to attend EMI during my senior year of college."

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Check out human foods and nutrition major Faiza Sachwani and honors biomedical sciences Esther Nwana's presentation at the Ethics Medicine Innovation conference here in Houston! We are happy to make opportunities like this possible for students with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship!✈️

The Honors College at the University of Houston
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH

Check out some of the highlights of the 2026 Houston Early Research Experience! This 10th iteration of the program focused on the theme "Houston's Environment: The Bayou City." The interdisciplinary cohort spent the last two weeks hearing from subject matter and research experts, gathering context on the theme, developing a research question, and crafting a proposal to ultimately present out. What an incredible two weeks it was!