Being just one of five Parkway students, junior Claire Ji earned an award for her excellence in scientific research through the STARS program.
“I worked at the SLU medical campus,” Ji said. “ I worked with Dr. Amy Harkins who specializes in biomedical engineering, so she works with synthetic materials in biological systems.”
Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS) is a program that allows students the opportunity to work alongside a professor while growing their knowledge in scientific procedures.
“Normally the students just work with the lab assistants,” Ji said, “but I was fortunate enough to get to work with Dr. Harkins due to the fact that the project I was working on was a project she initially started herself, so she wanted to see me through it and she worked with me throughout the process.”
With an opportunity to work with newly developed equipment, students like senior Alex Mesnier are more than willing to apply.
“I looked at the effect of chemically doped glass on neuron survival and growth,” Ji said. “I know that sounds really weird and complicated but, we basically doped glass with certain elements and then we observed how the neurons survived.”
Six weeks of continuous work can be taxing on anyone, especially when expectations for good results are high.
“At first it was a huge rush to be accepted into the program,” Ji said. “However as the days went on it was definitely a challenge to stay motivated and keep pace with what was required of us.”
However, the research itself was not only task students were required to accomplish.
“By far my biggest struggle was the research paper,” Ji said. “On top of doing all the research you also have to compile all the information into a formal scientific research paper which was really difficult. My paper ended up being 23 pages.”
Professors and scientists read through all the research papers in order to determine which select few have earned an award.
“I was one of the few that got an award for their research paper,” Ji said. “I put in a lot of effort and apparently it showed when the professors were reading it, I was pretty excited.”
Ji looks to pursue a career in science and research, but not in biomedical engineering.
“I gained so much from this experience,” Ji said. “I got to spend a lot of time with people who I have a lot in common with, and I was able to see what it would be like if I chose to go into a scientific research career, plus I got an award which was fun too.”
Even without earning an award the program offers insight on what scientific lifestyle would be like.
“I gained useful skills in research and experimental design, as well as a great experience that I couldn’t get anywhere else,” Mesnier said. “It was a great program and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else who wants to see what it feels like to be in a real scientific environment.”
