Established to provide opportunities to Dedman College undergraduates for hands-on research, Jack and Jane Hamilton founded the Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholars Program in 2008. Devoted to the legacy of their parents, Diane Buford ('71) and Dan Hamilton ('79) continue the program to this day. The Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholars Program enables Dedman College's most promising students to collaborate with top faculty researchers and contribute to the creation of knowledge in significant and meaningful ways.
Students in this program work closely with a member of the Dedman College Faculty (in the sciences, social sciences, or humnanities) on valuable, cutting edge projects that advance knowledge. Faculty/student teams carry out primary research for one semester or up to one year.
Each faculty/student team submits a competitive proposal for the project to the Program Director in response to a call for proposals that goes out in August of each academic year. A small number of Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholar Awards are also made for the summer with a request for applications going out in late April. Awards are up to $3000/semester with matching funds available from the University Undergraduate Research Program. Hamilton Scholars have successfully delivered papers on their research at professional meetings or submitted their work to professional journals. Hamilton Scholars are also recognized at the University Honors Convocation.
Students who are interested in this program should speak to a faculty member with whom they are interested in working. Faculty members who are interested in this program should identify a student interested in participating. For further information, contact Caroline B. Brettell, Director, Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute (cbrettel@smu.edu; 214-768-4254).
List of Hamilton Scholars, Summer 2012 and Academic Year 2012-2013
Summer Scholars
Elizabeth Dubret (working with Ildar Gabitov, Department of Mathematics): "Insect Outbreaks and Mathematical Theory of Castrophes"
George Ross Kunkel (working with John Buynak, Department of Chemistry): "Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Antibiotics to Counter Resistant Bacteria"
Vanessa Stevens (working with Alicia Meuret, Department of Psychology): "Investigating the underlying physiological and experiential correlates of self-injury"
Anna Skrivanek (working with Lynne Stokes, Department of Statistics): "Data Collection Via Ranked Set Sample in Two Applications"
Academic Year Scholars
Division Two
Jean Paul Destarac (working with Thomas Osang, Department of Economics): "The Eurozone Crisis: Causes and Potential Solutions"
Samantha Jarvis (working with Pamela C. Corley, Department of Political Science): "Language of the Law: The Influence of Law Clerks on the Content of Supreme Court Opinions"
Rahfin Faruk (working with Hiroki Takeuchi): "Insular South Asians in Japan: Cultural, Historical, and Institutional Barriers"
Jessica Riley (working with Sheri Kunovich, Department of Sociology): "Constructing the New Republican Woman"
Andrea Graham (working with Austin Baldwin, Department of Psychology): "Influence of Affective Forecasting on Exercise Motivation"
Elizabeth (Liz) Neil (working with Lorelei Simpson Rowe, Department of Psychology): "Social Cognition Deficits in Pleasant and Unpleasant Situations"
Division Three
Department of Chemistry
Brad Davis (working with Nicolay V. Tsarevsky, Department of Chemistry): "Identification and Characterization of Reducing Agents Suitable for 'green' atom transfer radical polymerization mediated by very low concentrations of catalyst"
Hilary Hopkins (working with Dr. Brian Zoltowski, Department of Chemistry): "Regulation of Cellular Metabolism in Response to Blue-Light"
Dalton Kim (working with Patty Wisian-Neilson, Department of Chemistry): "New Antibacterial Materials derived from Phosphazene Polymers"
Kimberly Mendoza (working with Ed Biehl, Department of Chemistry): "Microwave-assisted rapid, low-temperature syntheses of novel heterocucles with potential biological activity"
Anish Patel (working with David Son, Department of Chemistry): "Dendrimer Synthesis for Drug Discovery"
Department of Biological Sciences
Janice Kim (working with Robert Harrod, Department of Biological Sciences): "Regulation of Cellular Metabolism by the Human T-cell Leukemia Virus Type-1 (HTLV-1) Promotes Oncogene Activation during Viral Carcinogenesis"
Charles Wysocki (working with Johannes Bauer, Department of Biology): "The role of the pentose phosphate pathway to longevity regulation by Dietary Restriction"
Isolina Rossi (working with Pia Vogel, Department of Biological Sciences): "Developing Drugs for the Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Cancer" (Spring 2013 ONLY)
Department of Physics
Santosh Adhikari (working with Simon Dailey, Department of Physics): "Optimizing Angular Asymmetry Observables at High Energy Colliders" (Fall 2012 ONLY)
Keith Adler (working with Jodi Cooley, Department of Physics): "A Universal Materials Database for Low Background Experiments" (Fall 2012 ONLY)
Matthew Bruemmer (working with Jodi Cooley, Department of Physics): "A Universal Materials Database for Low Background Experiments" (Fall 2012 ONLY)
Ben Wise (working with Jodi Cooley, Department of Physics): "A Universal Materials Database for Low Background Experiments" (Fall 2012 ONLY)
Department of Mathematics
Brittani Boukather (working with Brandilyn Stigler, Department of Mathematics): "Model Spaces of Gene Regulatory Networks"
Roman Stolyarov (working with Dr. Scott Norris and Dr. Andrea K. Barreiro, Department of Mathematics): "An efficient and accurate solver for large neural networks"