Research

The School of Science offers you several opportunities to gain real-world experience through a research project.

All School of Science students are strongly encouraged to participate in one or more research projects during their degree studies. Research enables students to gain a deeper appreciation for the discipline, clarify career goals, and establish relationships with faculty members. The experience builds both hard and soft skills that are easily transferable – in graduate school and the job market -- and give you extra insight into a field or topic you are passionate about.

As part of their overall participation in research projects, in collaboration with your professors, the students write scientific reports and papers and present their work at local, regional, and national conferences.

Manhattan Scientist cover

Student Research Journal

Each year, all School of Science student research papers are published in the Manhattan Scientist, a journal dedicated to the work of science students. Read the latest edition which features research papers from all departments in the School of Science.

Available Programs:

  • Summer Research Programs

    These programs are offered each summer and provide a stipend and campus housing. You must apply and be accepted into each of these programs.

    • Jasper Summer Research Scholars: a program, through the provost’s office, that funds three Science research or creative projects each summer.
    • School of Science Dean's Office Summer Program: Outstanding School of Science students are given the opportunity to do hands-on research with a faculty member.
    • Endowments and external grants: Additional support for about thirty (30) students is available through endowments (see below) and external grants received by school of science faculty.
    • In addition to the summer programs, our faculty members also work with students throughout the school year on research projects.
  • Named & Endowed Research Programs

    Catherine and Robert Fenton Endowed Chair Scholars: An exclusive opportunity for students majoring in biology, the Fenton Scholars program supports basic research projects by students working with the Fenton Endowed Chair Professor, Dr. Lance Evans.

    Linda and Dennis Fenton '73 Endowment Scholars: An exclusive opportunity for students majoring in biology, the Fenton Research Scholars program supports basic research projects by students working with faculty on research projects in biology.

    Michael '58 and Aimee Rushinko Kakos Endowment Scholars: An opportunity for science majors, the Kakos Scholars program supports basic research projects by students working with the faculty supported by the Endowment.

    The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Undergraduate Scholars: An opportunity for science majors, the Dreyfus award supports chemistry research projects and provides stipends to students working with Professor Richard Kirchner and other chemistry faculty.

    Last year’s student research topics include:

    Biochemistry

    • Investigating Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation stimulated by plants
    • Building a library of mutant H2AZ histones to observe variances in H2A vs. H2AZ interactomes
    • Establishing a chromatin immunoprecipitation protocol (ChIP) to use with unnatural amino acid cross-linking
    • Characterization of the role of bacterial tyrosine kinases in Bacillus subtilis biofilms
    • Investigating the role of the Med protein in biofilm formation
    • Purification and isolation of glucose oxidase for use in a bio-battery

    Biology

    • Xylem conductivity of primary, secondary, and tertiary veins of plant leaves
    • Geographic variation in body size and sexual size dimorphism of North American ratsnakes
    • Bark formation for Neobuxbaumia tetetzo and Pachycereus hollianus
    • Predicting mortality rates for saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
    • Predicting rates of bark coverage on saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
    • Scaling relationships between leaf areas and leaf veins for percurrent leaves
    • Machine learning algorithms to determine bark coverage on saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
    • Predicting bark coverage on saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea)
    • Growth dynamics of Artemisia tridentata
    • Xylem conductivity in stems of Artemisia tridentata
    • Determination of the temporal and spatial variation of Giardia lamblia in ribbed mussels from Bronx, NY
    • Determination of the prevalence and genotype of Giardia lamblia
    • Bark and spine analyses of Neobuxbaumia mezcalaensis and Pachycereus hollianus

    Chemistry

    • Theoretical and experimental design of efficient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon adsorbents
    • Carcinogenic nature of polyaromatic hydrocarbon binding to DNA
    • Removing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by adsorption onto silica gels treated with lipophilic carboxylic acids
    • An insoluble chemical reducing agent: Application to Cr(VI) removal
    • Surface functionalized ion exchange resins by chemical reducing agents: applications for Cr(VI) removal
    • Core-shell nanoparticles as photocatalysts to purify water
    • Enhancing enzymatic fuel cells with nanotechnology
    • Solar cells using nanowire technology
    • Creating lead-free perovskite materials for a cleaner, greener future

    Computer Science

    • Parallel GPU based simulations of multilayer neural networks with multi-valued neurons
    • Speed up of big data encryption on GPU using CUDA
    • Implementation and evaluation of LPN-based authentications
    • Intelligent edge detection using an MLMVN

    Environmental Science

    • Reconstruction of atmospheric CO and the stable isotopes δ13C and δ18O over the last 8,000 years
    • Analyzing the concentration of atmospheric CO derived from biomass burning during 1700-1800 AD

    Physics

    • Observable relics of a simple harmonic universe
    • Comparison of Monte Carlo generators for Higgs decay processes
  • Conferences

    As a science student, you will have the opportunity to attend and present your research work at a variety of national and international conferences. Many students co-author peer-reviewed papers and present them alongside faculty. This sort of experience leads to regional and national recognition, and serves as valuable professional preparation networking opportunities.

    Our students are typically involved in in the following conferences:

    • Spuyten Duyvil Undergraduate Mathematics Conference:A one-day conference hosted by Manhattan College that features presentations by undergraduate students and faculty in mathematics and related disciplines.
    • New York American Chemical Society Research Symposium:The New York American Chemical Society Undergraduate Research Symposium is an annual pre-professional meeting where chemistry/biochemistry students can present their undergraduate research results.
    • Eastern College Science Conference (ECSC):ECSC is an association of primarily undergraduate colleges and universities that provides a forum for undergraduate students in science and engineering to present their research.