{"id":30220,"date":"2026-10-26T11:26:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T15:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=30220"},"modified":"2026-10-26T11:26:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T15:26:43","slug":"undergraduate-student-research-on-display-at-2026-clarkfest","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/26\/undergraduate-student-research-on-display-at-2026-clarkfest\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergraduate student research on display at 2026 ClarkFEST"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

\u2018We\u2019re speaking the language of the universe and applying it\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate research at Clark stretches far and wide, from analyzing the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to exploring community at University Park. These student projects are among dozens that will be on display this Wednesday, Oct. 28, at ClarkFEST<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biannual showcase highlights the academic and research excellence of Clark undergrads, as well as the faculty mentorship that made the projects possible. The event is sponsored by the office of the Dean of the College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am incredibly honored to be putting together ClarkFEST for the first time and very proud of the accomplishments of our students,\u201d says Interim Associate Dean of Undergraduate Scholarship Cyril Ghosh, who is also a professor of political science and the Lloyd B. Politsch \u201933 Chair of Law. \u201cEven a cursory look at the final program gives you a sense of the vast range of scholarship and creative work our students are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ClarkFEST<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ClarkFEST runs from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m.<\/a> Posters will be on display during two sessions in Tilton Hall, Session I from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. and Session II from 3 to 4:15 p.m. Creative works and interactive media projects will be shown from 1:45 to 3:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design. Panel presentations will take place at staggered times from 1:45 to 4:15 p.m. in the Grace and Lurie conference rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savannah Le \u201928, a psychology<\/a> major minoring in health, science & society<\/a>, researched exposure to violence and externalizing behavior in children who are discharged early from partial hospitalization programs. These after-school programs provide children varying levels and types of therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis taught me a lot about resilience, how to manage trauma, and how to manage myself when reading triggering topics. Most of all, my biggest takeaway is that because there is very little research and information on children and partial programs, I just hope I am doing them justice by giving them the attention that they deserve,\u201d says Le.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reevu Majumdar \u201927, a mathematics<\/a> major, will present summer research he did with his advisor, Math Professor Aghil Alaee Khangha<\/a>. The project is focused on quasi-local mass in general relativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of differential geometry, geometry analysis, and we\u2019re using that to make assumptions about how heavy a black hole can be,\u201d explains Majumdar. His interest in this topic grew from taking Alaee\u2019s calculus course. \u201cI loved his method of knowing, so I looked into<\/a> his research and thought it was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"student<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Majumdar, this is important work. \u201cEven though it\u2019s so theoretical and won\u2019t really help us on Earth, we\u2019re still speaking the language of the universe and applying it to things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uliana Pronina \u201929, a chemistry<\/a> major with a minor in physics<\/a>, is presenting a poster on summer research conducted with a Penn Research Award<\/a>. Her project, \u201cVapor Deposited Polypyrrole Nanofibers for Interdigitated Microsupercapacitors,\u201d is focused on electrochemistry and some chemical engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like material science, which is my career direction, probably process engineering,\u201d says Pronina. Throughout the months she spent on her research, Pronina learned the importance of exploring all avenues on one\u2019s own instead of blindly trusting other people\u2019s assumptions. Her key takeaway, she says, was to \u201cquestion everything you have, and not to assume that everything that works right now is the best method it can possibly be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtnegail Rose \u201927, a biochemistry and molecular biology<\/a> major on the pre-med track, studied the protein associated with Alzheimer’s, supported by the James \u201939 and Ada Bickman Summer Science Research Internship. Presenting at ClarkFEST was motivated by her capstone as well as a pursuit of personal growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need to get better at public speaking and sharing my ideas that are science related,\u201d says Rose. \u201cI thought that getting better at speaking about it so that everyone gets to understand what’s going on, is very important.\u201d While Rose is excited to present the project, this research still has a long way to go, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ephraim Butson \u201927, an English<\/a> and political science<\/a> double major on the pre-law track, spent his summer in Worcester interning at State Sen. Robyn Kennedy\u2019s office, where he gained hands-on experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got to go out to the field, go to events, plan them, and meet people,\u201d he says. Butson is speaking about his experience during a panel at ClarkFEST because he wants to share advice and lessons with younger Clark students. \u201cIn Admissions, where I work as a student ambassador, people ask me how I get my internships. I found a lot of them from upperclassmen who I talked to when I was a first-year,\u201d he says. \u201cI think of [presenting] as more like giving back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ClarkFEST runs from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25704,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-deeper-red)","story_headerImg":25704,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[225,223,241,227,245],"displayed_author":[539],"featured":[510,493],"topic":[250,266,196,163,127,121],"class_list":["post-30220","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","category-clark-community","category-environment-sustainability","category-science-technology","category-social-sciences","displayed_author-rukhshona-marufova-29","featured-featured","featured-primary","topic-arts","topic-clarkfest","topic-humanities","topic-sciences","topic-undergraduate-research","topic-undergraduate-students"],"yoast_head":"\nUndergraduate student research on display at 2026 ClarkFEST | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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