2023 Faculty Research
The following faculty research projects are organized by colleges, and then alphabetically by department. Students are encouraged to look at related fields, as well as within their major departments for research projects, which might be interesting to them. For example, the research project in the theater department might also be interesting to sociology or education majors.
Please note that this list is non-exhaustive, as students may work with Faculty mentors not included on this list
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BOURNS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Bioengineering
Faculty Mentor: Elena Kokkoni
Research: Assistive Technology, Pediatric Rehabilitation, Child-Robot Interaction, Movement Biomechanics
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/elenak
Faculty Mentor: Huinan Liu
Research: Design, fabrication, and evaluation of novel biomaterials for tissue regeneration, controlled drug delivery, and implant applications
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/huinanl
Faculty Mentor: Giulia Palermo
Research: CRISPR-Cas9 mechanism, computational bioengineering, biophysics, genome editing
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/giuliap
Faculty Mentor: Joshua Morgan
Research: Novel therapeutics to ameliorate degeneration associated with aging and increase the quality of life of geriatric patients
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/morganj1
Faculty Mentor: Vasileios Christopoulos
Research: Functional ultrasound imaging, clinical neuromodulation, biomarkers for psychiatric and neurological disorders, deep brain stimulation
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/christov
Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Jiamin Zhang
Research: Studying authentic problem-solving in undergraduate engineering programs, how students assess their own learning
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qHiRKegAAAAJ&hl=en
Faculty Mentor: Ruoxue Yan
Research: Flexible electronics, Machine learning guided material synthesis
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/ruoxuey
Faculty Mentor: Yujie Men
Research: Interactions between environmental microorganisms and the contaminants of emerging concerns
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/yujiem
Faculty Mentor: Amanda Rupiper
Research: water reuse and water loss, water-energy efficiency
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-rupiper-2a515751
Faculty Mentor: Ke Du
Research: Computer vision for pathogen detection; 3-D printing of microneedles for drug delivery; Nanoscale antimicrobial surface; Microalgae interaction with cells
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kdu
Faculty Mentor: Haizhou Liu
Research: Water chemistry, water reuse, desalination, environmental remediation, electrochemistry and catalysis.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/haizhou
Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Ahmed Eldawy
Research: Geospatial data exploration and visualization.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/eldawy
Faculty Mentor: Philip Brisk
Research: #1 Machine learning models to predict the performance of applications on under-development CPUs and GPUs, #2 Use FPGAs to accelerate applications of interest, including machine learning algorithms and cryptography. #3 Novel DNA-based computing models and programmable microfluidic microprocessors that can synthesize DNA and run DNA-based programs
I am available to supervise students majoring in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. I could supervise a Bioengineering student for Project #3 as well.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/pbrisk
Faculty Mentor: Elaheh Sadredini
Research: Security, machine learning, hardware acceleration
https://www.cs.ucr.edu/~elaheh/
Faculty Mentor: Neftali Watkinson Medina
Research: Creating a virtual artificial agent that will serve as a teaching device by emulating famous historical figures. This work will use applied artificial intelligence, information retrieval, and digital art. Prior experience in these areas are not required, but motivation and creativity are a must in order to succeed
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/neftaliw
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Alexander Khitun
Research: Nanoelectronics, Spontronics
https://balandingroup.ucr.edu/alexander_khitun.html
Faculty Mentor: Salman Asif
Research: Machine learning, computer vision, computational imaging
https://www.ece.ucr.edu/~sasif
Faculty Mentor: Ran Cheng
Research: Solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations to explore unique physical properties in various magnetic materials and magnetic heterostructures. Electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, and certain numerical techniques will be used. Students majoring in physics are preferred. GPA 3.5 or above.
https://terahertzspin.engr.ucr.edu/
Faculty Mentor: Elaine Haberer
Research: Using biomolecules to synthesize new, multi-component nanoscale materials and devices to address challenges in the area of solar power generation, photocatalysis, and biosensing. Electrospun optical biosensors; viral-templated nanomotors
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/haberer
Faculty Mentor: Konstantinos Karydis
Research: Robotics
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/karydis
Faculty Mentor: Jianlin Liu
Research: Semiconductor materials and devices
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/jianlin
Faculty Mentor: Shaolei Ren
Research: Optimizing machine learning models on tiny devices.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/shaolei
Faculty Mentor: Fariborz Kargar
Research: Optics and light scattering of quantum materials; Thermal interface materials for electronic cooling; Material characterization such as atomic force microscopy, etc
https://balandingroup.ucr.edu/fariborz_kargar.html
Materials Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Elaine Haberer
Research: Using biomolecules to synthesize new, multi-component nanoscale materials and devices to address challenges in the area of solar power generation, photocatalysis, and biosensing. Electrospun optical biosensors; viral-templated nanomotors
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/haberer
Faculty Mentor: Richard Wilson
Research: Energy Processing, Nano & Micro Scale Engineering, Materials Properties & Processing
Faculty Mentor: Bryan Wong
Research: computational simulations of materials
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/brwong
Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Mentor: Alex Greaney
Research: Computational materials science and machine learning
Faculty Mentor: Chen Li
Research: Phonon Model Optimization
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/chenli
Faculty Mentor: Jonathan Realmuto
Research: Soft Robotics, Rehab/Assistive/Wearable Robotics, Human Sensorimotor Behavior
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/jrealmut
Faculty Mentor: Jun Sheng
Research: Design, fabricate, and control continuum robots with applications to surgery, rehabilitation, and agriculture.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/juns
Faculty Mentor: Richard Wilson
Research: Energy Processing, Nano & Micro Scale Engineering, Materials Properties & Processing
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COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Economics
Faculty Mentor: Veronica Sovero
Research: Economics of higher education, labor economics, social networks
https://sites.google.com/site/vsovero/home
English
Faculty Mentor: Corinne (Cori) Knight
Research: American American history/literature/pop culture, comics/graphic novels, disability and accessibility in higher education, disaster preparedness/mitigation
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/cknig002
Faculty Mentor: Richard Rodriguez
Research: Latinx studies; film and visual culture; queer studies; popular music
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/rickyr
Ethnic Studies
Faculty Mentor: Paul Green
Research: Educational politics, social policy, law, race, segregation, desegregation, integration, educational opportunity for poor youth and children of color
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/pgreen
Faculty Mentor: Jasmin Young
Research: Intellectual history of Black women, state violence and resistance, and radical Black feminism.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/jasminy
Hispanic Studies
Faculty Mentor: Claudia Holguin Mendoza
Research: Spanish linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Critical Literacy and bilingualism
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/cholguin
Faculty Mentor: Covadonga Lamar-Prieto
Research: Spanish in the US/ California; Bilingualism in social media
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/covad
Faculty Mentor: Carlos Varon Gonzalez
Research: Spanish and Latin American Culture, political philosophy, popular culture (soccer, music)
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/cvarongo
Media and Cultural Studies
Faculty Mentor: Richard Rodriguez
Research: Latinx studies; film and visual culture; queer studies; popular music
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/rickyr
Music
Faculty Mentor: Bradley Butterworth
Research: Popular music production, recording, mixing, mastering live sound, post production audio
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/bradleyb
Faculty Mentor: Dana Kaufman
Research: A composer of primarily vocal/operatic music, Kaufman has also focused on composing for trans voices and pushing for inclusivity in opera.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/danak
Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Davis
Research: Children's emotional functioning, psychopathology, emotion regulation, physiology
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/eldavis
Faculty Mentor: Rachel Wu
Research: Cognitive aging, COVID-related well-being
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/rachelw
Faculty Mentor: Tuppett Yates
Research: Risk and resilience among adversity-exposed children and adolescents; Foster youth research
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/tuppett
Faculty Mentor: John Franchak
Research: How people gather and use perceptual information to guide motor actions, observe their surroundings, and engage in social interactions.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/franchak
Faculty Mentor: Rebekah Richert
Research: Children and religion, children and fantasy
Faculty Mentor: Weiwei Zhang
Research: Perception, attention, memory, and higher cognition in healthy and clinical populations using multiple Cognitive Neuroscience methods
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/wwzhang
Religious Studies/Gender and Sexuality Studies
Faculty Mentor: Sahin Acikgoz
Research: Queer and Trans Studies in Islam, Slavery, Trans of Color Critique, Global South, Transnational Feminisms, and Gender Politics in the Middle East.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/sahina
Sociology
Faculty Mentor: Adalberto Aguirre, Jr.
Research: critical race theory, immigration, higher education
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/aguirre
Faculty Mentor: Tanya Nieri
Research: Relation of ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) to young adult outcomes
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/tanyan
Theatre, Film, and Digital Production
Faculty Mentor: Keunpyo Park
Research: Director for screen and stage, and actor. Works include The LA Riots 1992: Reflection on Our Future and Footsteps of Korean Americans
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COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
Botany and Plant Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Danelle Seymour
Research: Modern genetic and statistical genomic tools to ensure that citrus varieties withstand future shifts in biotic and abiotic conditions
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/heatherf
Faculty Mentor: Devinder Sandhu
Research: Salinity tolerance in plants
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hgUTSzIAAAAJ&hl=en
Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Joshua Hartman
Research: Computational chemistry, molecular crystal structure, nuclear magnetic resonance
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/jhart005
Faculty Mentor: Joseph Genereux
Research: Which environmental stressors cause proteins to mistarget to the cytosol, and consequences of this mistargeting
Faculty Mentor: Yadong Yin
Research: understanding the formation, assembly, and properties of nanostructures, designing nanostructure-based functional materials
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/yadongy
Factory Mentor: Jingsong Zhang
Research: Atmospheric chemistry, air pollution monitoring, chemical kinetics, combustion chemistry
https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/zhanggroup/home
Faculty Mentor: Haofei Zhang
Research: Environmental Chemistry, Multiphase Organic Aerosol Formation, Air Pollution
https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/hzhang/home
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Andrey Bekker
Research: Multidisciplinary, international project to study the evolution of the atmosphere and ocean composition during the early history of our planet when it experienced dramatic changes in climate and biogeochemical carbon cycle and when first complex life evolved. Carbonate, shale, and iron formation samples will be prepared for isotope analyses in the stable isotope laboratory
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/andreyb
Faculty Mentor: Heather Ford
Research: Geophysics; Seismology; Crust; Mantle; Earthquakes
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/heatherf
Faculty Mentor: Gareth Funning
Research: Earthquakes and faulting; Remote sensing/satellite imagery; Seismology and data mining
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/gareth
Entomology
Faculty Mentor: Alec Gerry
Research: Diversity of blood feeding flies (biting midges) in the western United States
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/alecg
Faculty Mentor: Quinn McFrederick
Research: Symbiosis, bee biology, microbiology
https://melittology.ucr.edu/people/quinn-mcfrederick
Faculty Mentor: Kerry Mauck
Research: Biochemical mechanisms mediating plant pathogen transmission in complex ecological settings and their implications
https://entomology.ucr.edu/people/kerry-mauck
Faculty Mentor: Hollis Woodward
Research: Bumble bee research and conservation
https://entomology.ucr.edu/people/s-woodard
Environmental Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Peter Homyak
Research: Effects of wildfires on soil nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/phomyak
Faculty Mentor: Elia Scudiero
Research: Remote Sensing, GIS, Agriculture, Precision Agriculture, Agronomy, Ag Tech
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/elias
Faculty Mentor: Francesca Hopkins
Research: Trace gas emissions, terrestrial carbon cycle, isotope biogeochemistry
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/fhopkins
Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology (EEOB)
Faculty Mentor: Kurt Anderson
Research: Freshwater ecology, conservation, population and community ecology, mathematical and computer modeling
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kurta
Faculty Mentor: Ted Garland
Research: Evolutionary physiology and behavior of voluntary activity levels in mice
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/tgarland
Faculty Mentor: Joel Sachs
Research: How plants select beneficial bacterial symbionts from the soil, investigating the mechanisms of superior bacterial inoculants to improve crop sustainability
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/joels
Faculty Mentor: Kate Ostevik
Research: Evolutionary biology, speciation, hybridization, genome evolution, pollination biology, plant mating systems
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kostevik
Faculty Mentor: Kieran Samuk
Research: Evolutionary response to climate change in natural populations of flies (field work & molecular lab work), Marker development for monitoring chromosomal inversions in natural populations (molecular lab work), Development of computer simulations to explore and test evolutionary theory (computer/coding work)
Faculty Mentor: Natalie Holt
Research: Effect of early life exercise on the musculoskeletal system, and the role of muscle elasticity in locomotor performance across thermal gradients.
https://theholtlab.weebly.com/
Mathematics
Faculty Mentor: Qixuan Wang
Research: Mathematical biology, multi-scale modeling, growth and regeneration, applied dynamical system, cell fate decisions
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/qixuanw
Faculty Mentor: Matthew Harper
Research: Mathematics of quantum computing, Knot theory, Representation theory and linear algebra
sites.google.com/view/matthewharper-math/home
Faculty Mentor: Russell Rockne
Research: Translating mathematics, physics and evolution-based research to clinical care.
https://icqmb.ucr.edu/russell-rockne
Faculty Mentor: Heyrim Cho
Research: Modeling multi-scale biological systems, and characterizing effects of the underlying uncertainty for comprehensive mathematical modeling
https://icqmb.ucr.edu/heyrim-cho
Microbiology & Plant Pathology
Faculty Mentor: Katherine Borkovich
Research: Environmental sensing in fungi. Plant cell wall degradation and biofuels.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/katherib
Faculty Mentor: Fatemeh Khodadadi
Research: Molecular interaction of fungal and bacterial diseases of nut and fruit trees.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatemeh-khodadadi-836a3253
Faculty Mentor: Alex Putman
Research: Pathogens of vegetables and some fruit crops. Diagnosing diseased plants and culturing the fungus from infected plants onto artificial media
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/aiputman
Molecular, Cell, and Systems Biology
Faculty Mentor: Viji Santhakumar
Research: Novel directions examining the role of neuro-immune interactions and neurogenesis in development of neurocognitive dysfunction after brain injury.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/vijayas
Faculty Mentor: Weifeng Gu
Research: Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology (MCSB), Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics Program, Small RNA and antivirus
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/weifeng
Neuroscience:
Faculty Mentor: Weiwei Zhang
Research: Focuses on perception, attention, memory, and higher cognition in healthy and clinical populations using multiple Cognitive Neuroscience methods
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/wwzhang
Physics and Astronomy
Faculty Mentor: Miguel Arratia
Research: Data analysis of simulation data for future Electron-Ion Collider. Python programming, and may include artificial intelligence techniques
Faculty Mentor: Ran Cheng
Research: Solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations to explore unique physical properties in various magnetic materials and magnetic heterostructures. GPA 3.5 or above.
https://terahertzspin.engr.ucr.edu/
Faculty Mentor: Flip Tanedo
Research: Dark matter
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/flipt
Faculty Mentor: Bryan Wong
Research: computational simulations of materials
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/brwong
Faculty Mentor: Shawn Westerdale
Research: Dark matter investigation using direct detection and neutrino experiments
https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/darkmatter/
Statistics
Faculty Mentor: Weixin Yao
Research: Mixture models, model-based clustering and classification, modal regression, nonparametric and semiparametric modeling,
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SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Faculty Mentor: Thomas Kramer
Research: Consumer behavior / consumer psychology, focus on how irrational beliefs, such as superstitious, magic, or karmic beliefs impact consumer decision-making.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/tkramer
Faculty Mentor: Marlo Raveendran
Research: Formula 1 data project using machine learning
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/marlor
Faculty Mentor: Mohsen ElHafsi
Research: Operations and supply chain management, manufacturing and service operations, and production and inventory systems
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/melhafsi
Faculty Mentor: Hai Che
Research: Data-Driven Marketing Strategies based on Consumer Purchase and Social Activities.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/chehai
Finance
Faculty Mentor: Mengmeng Dong
Research: Empirical asset pricing, international finance, behavioral finance and empirical corporate finance.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/mdong
Information Systems
Faculty Mentor: Sanjoy Moulik
Research: Healthcare Informatics, Management and Leadership of IS, Persuasive Technology, Design Science Research
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjoym/
Faculty Mentor: Rich Yueh
Research: Information systems
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SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Faculty Mentor: Katherine Stavropoulos
Research: Neuroscience and autism spectrum disorder, electrophysiology to measure brain activity in children with and without autism spectrum disorder
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/katherst
Faculty Mentor: José Del Real Viramontes
Research: 1) The educational access, persistence, and graduation of Chicanx/Latinx students 2) How Chicanx/Latinx community college transfer students exercise their agency when confronting the ideological, structural, and institutional conditions of the transfer process 3) Transfer Receptive Culture for Chicanx/Latinx community college students 4) Chicanx/Latinx students in the community college 5) Chicanx/Latinx transfer students 6) Mentoring Chicanx/Latinx students in Higher Education.
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/jdelreal
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SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Biomedical Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Martin I. Garcia-Castro
Research: Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern the formation and differentiation potential of Neural crest cells (NCCs)
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/scottp
Faculty Mentor: Adam Godzik
Research: Insights from physics and biology to answer basic questions about the relation between the protein sequence and its structure and function
Faculty Mentor: Scott Pegan
Research: antiviral and anti-nerve agent therapy development. Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fevers virus, coronavirus, Infectious Disease ; Therapeutics Development
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/scottp
Faculty Mentor: Natalie Zlebnik
Research: Examine how drugs of abuse exploit neural mechanisms of motivated behavior to promote relapse and facilitate the transition to drug addiction
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/nataliez
Faculty Mentor: Sika Zheng
Research: RNA in neuroscience
Internal Medicine
Faculty Mentor: Femina Patel
Research: Internal medicine
https://profiles.ucr.edu/femina.patel
Social Med Population & Public Health
Faculty Mentor: Ann Cheney
Research: childhood asthma; early childhood obesity risk
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SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Faculty Mentor: Mehdi Nemati
Research: Environmental Economics, Water resources economics
Email Template to Potential Faculty Mentors
Possible Subject Line: Mentorship Inquiry for ______ (put the specific name, e.g. Mentoring Summer Research Internship, UC LEADS etc)
Hello Dr. ____,
My name is _____ and I am a student at UCR studying ______. I am writing to ask whether you would consider mentoring me during my summer research experience with the ______ [Insert Program Name Here] through the office of Academic Preparation, Recruitment and Outreach within the Graduate Division. As you might know, the program prepares undergraduate students for graduate school by providing a stipend for undergraduates to conduct research at UCR. The research findings will also be presented at a symposium in mid-August. You can read more about the program here: https://apro.ucr.edu/academic-preparation
I have learned about your research on _____ [insert relevant research topics] and am interested in exploring more about this topic myself. [Write something about your experience, your research interests, etc. A couple of sentences about you as a person will do].
If you would like to meet with me and discuss the possibility of your mentoring me this upcoming summer, I can set up a zoom meeting or phone call. If you’re available, I would like to talk to you soon, as the coordinators need to finalize details by March 31.
Please let me know if you have any concerns or require any further information from me and/or from the program coordinators.
Sincerely,
__________
(include name, phone number, email)