Story and photo courtesy of Creighton University
A trio of undergraduate researchers and budding scientists are Creighton University’s latest Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program honorees.
Juniors Mason Rhodes, Spencer Thompson and Siddharth Venkatraman continue a tradition that extends over 10 years as Creighton can lay claim to the most Goldwater Scholars produced by a Catholic university and a place among the top 25 private universities producing such scholars — joining the ranks with Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and MIT.
"I feel it’s a testament to what Creighton does in nurturing the interests of students who want to get into research," said Venkatraman, a biochemistry and philosophy major. "Creighton has definitely encouraged me to be introspective and thinking about problems and solutions that have practical applications."
The federally funded Goldwater Scholarship is one of the nation’s most prestigious for young scientists, and highlights undergraduate research incubators such as Creighton, where the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship is giving students opportunities to engage in top-flight research with internationally recognized faculty.
"Creighton University is deeply committed to undergraduate research, which is evident by the immense success we have with the Goldwater Scholars Program," said Juliane Soukup, Ph.D., a chemistry professor and director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship at Creighton and undergraduate campus program coordinator for the Nebraska INBRE program.
"Creighton’s faculty-led research opportunities provide the perfect environment for students to grow and flourish as researchers and scholars and being a part of the Nebraska INBRE program over the last 15 plus years has had a positive effect on undergraduate research at the university," she said.
For Thompson, also a biochemistry major and 2018 INBRE Scholar, and Venkatraman, work in the RNA research laboratory of Dr. Soukup, has been seminal in their experience and is launching them on similar trajectories, as both plan to enter an M.D./Ph.D. program upon graduation.
Rhodes, a physics and mathematics major, has been working with physics professor Jack Gabel, Ph.D., in computational astrophysics with the support of a NASA Nebraska Space Grant Fellowship, and with physics professor Thomas Wong, Ph.D., on quantum computing.
"The Goldwater, to me, is an indication that the research I’ve been doing is good and has been worthwhile," Thompson said. "I’ve been in the lab since I was a freshman and have found great opportunities with Dr. Soukup."
Both Venkatraman and Thompson cited Dr. Soukup, along with chemistry professors Erin Gross, Ph.D., and David A. Dobberpuhl, Ph.D., and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Bridget Keegan as instrumental in their successes and decisions to pursue a Goldwater award. As a philosophy major, Venkatraman also thanked philosophy professor Elizabeth Cooke, Ph.D., for her encouragement.
For Rhodes, the news of his Goldwater was doubly affirming, given that his research doesn’t take place in a typical laboratory setting and, moreover, the projects upon which he’s embarked aren’t always easily comprehended.
"I’m thinking about math and physics and making an application of it," said Rhodes, who entered Creighton on a pre-medicine track, but switched over to physics shortly after. "And it’s not always something that translates easily. Explaining quantum computing can pose significant challenges, just because it’s still new and not many people are doing it yet. This scholarship is a reaffirmation that opportunities exist for a career in this."