Some science projects are done at school in the laboratory and turned in for a grade. Others are created in the summer with names longer than the alphabet. When students opt for the latter, there is a large chance that a mentor has stood behind them with support and knowledge. On November 4, student research interns had a chance to thank their advisers at a ceremonial dinner held by Anita Chetty in Nichols Hall.
Chetty, science department chair, founded both the research program and mentorship program five years ago. “If we wanted to compete with other schools… we would certainly have to expose our kids to research in a research lab under the guidance of a research scientist,” she said. She uses personal networking and outreach to parents to recruit possible partners for students to study under.

Professor Raja Thakurta of University of California Santa Cruz, advised three students this year on topics related to astronomy. One, Namrata Anand (12), connected with him to complete an astro-physics internship over the summer. “Unlike other professors in other internships, he was actually there the whole time, every single day, going with us on the drive to UCSC, asking us questions, answering our questions, “ she said. Namrata explained that his lab’s years of data collected made her research possible. At the dinner, Thakurta thanked his interns and advocated for more students to work with his research facility.

Even as first-time independent researchers, the internships were enjoyable to seniors Vishesh Jain and Victor Chen. According to Vishesh, science classes and the mentors’ guidance gave him the skills to analyze cardiovascular data. Victor agreed: “It was a good experience for me, mainly because they were really helpful and guided me really well.”