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������ý is one of several colleges and universities offering undergraduate research opportunities this summer as part of . Undergraduate students who are enrolled at primarily undergraduate institutions and are U.S. citizens are encouraged to apply.

Iowa EPSCoR Chemurgy 2.0 is a state-wide program on networked research experiences for undergraduates. Dordt is one of several Iowa institutions where researchers collaborate to build the knowledge, infrastructure, and capacity for the state to be a leader in advanced biomanufacturing. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is providing support in the form of a five-year, $20 million grant from the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to researchers across the state of Iowa who will work to adapt and modernize the concept of “chemurgy,” a term coined by agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver to describe applied chemistry that produces industrial materials from crops. The project is known as Chemurgy 2.0.

“������ý’s history of developing high quality, mentored summer experiences for undergraduate research students provides a strong connection between the EPSCoR research projects and primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) in Iowa,” says Dr. Manuela A.A. Ayee-Leong, associate professor of chemical engineering, who is conducting research as part of this endeavor.

The projects listed below provide opportunities for students at PUIs to actively participate in the integration of bioscience research with advanced manufacturing through mentored faculty research, working together to make the state of Iowa a leader in the field of advanced biomanufacturing.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No.2242763.

Summer 2026 EPSCoR Undergraduate Research Projects

Molecular Studies of Respiratory Viral Proteins in Epithelial Membranes

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Manuela Ayee-Leong, Engineering, ������ý
Research Student: Jalyn Struble, ������ý

This project is part of a collaborative effort to make Iowa a leader in advanced biomanufacturing, and it gives undergraduate students the chance to study how respiratory viral proteins interact with epithelial cell membranes. Students will learn and use computational tools such as molecular dynamics simulations, protein docking, and statistical analysis to explore these systems. The main goal is to help students build valuable research skills while generating data that can contribute to future scientific publications.

Engineering Bacillus subtilis as a Microbial Platform for Renewable Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Preeti Shinde, Biology, ������ý
Research Student: Sherry Wang, ������ý

This project aims to engineer Bacillus subtilis as a microbial platform for the renewable biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid precursors. It will involve molecular biology, synthetic biology, and metabolic engineering to clone key pathway enzymes, verify their expression, and assess the production of metabolites. The work will establish a foundation for the scalable and sustainable microbial production of high value phenylpropanoids, aligning with Chemurgy 2.0 goals for biobased chemical innovation.

Modeling polymerization using Dynamical Monte Carlo

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ali Tabei, University of Northern Iowa, seyed.tabei@uni.edu
Research Student: Claire Write, UNI

In this project, we plan to use Dynamical Monte Carlo Modeling to obtain a better understanding of the kinetics of nucleoprotein binding and unbinding from mass photometry data.

Non-Euclidean Machine Learning Models in Systems Biology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aleksander Poleksic, UNI, aleksander.poleksic@uni.edu
Research Student: Jacob Dougherty, UNI

The goal of our project is to develop advanced machine learning methods for discovery and validation of biomedical interactions and associations in a comprehensive heterogeneous biomedical network consisting of genes, diseases, symptoms, drugs, side-effects, and other biomedical entities. Unlike existing ML methods that embed data of interest in classical (Euclidean) spaces, our methods will be grounded in novel mathematical theory for representing biomedical objects in spaces of different curvatures, including spherical and hyperbolic geometries. This research will explore whether such representation can enhance the accuracy of our in-house models, leading to better understanding of the underlying mechanism of human diseases.

Synthesis of Isatins through the DMSO-Mediated Oxidation of Indigo

Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Shriver, Central College, shriverj@central.edu
Research Student: Lauren Knott, Central College

Our proposal is to develop a mild and low-cost synthesis of isatins for utilization in our indirubin synthesis project. This will be accomplished utilizing our established indigoid synthetic method followed by the oxidation of indigo to isatin using DMSO as the oxidant.

The Synthesis of Superabsorbent Polymers from Renewable Sources

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jay Wackerly, Central College, wackerlyj@central.edu
Research Student: Lillian Fairchild, Central College

This project will utilize synthetic organic chemistry and chemical analysis techniques in a laboratory setting. Broadly, the Wackerly lab is interested in utilizing carbon dioxide from the air and transforming it into a useful purpose. This project will involve using molecules derived from corn and converting them into novel polymeric products utilizing organic synthesis techniques. Utilizing the new polymer analysis instrumentation available at Central College, these polymers will be evaluated for their viability for use as superabsorbent polymers.

About ������ý

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, ������ý equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.