The Advanced Nanoelectronics & Nanostructures Group specializes in both the synthesis and electronic device integration of novel low-dimensional electronic and quantum materials. Our primary focus is on bottom-up synthesized graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), where we achieve atomic precision in their design, molecule by molecule, with flexibility in design, and seamlessly integrate them into nanoelectronic devices. Led by Zafer Mutlu, PhD.

The Agrivoltaics VIP team focuses on sustainable solutions for food, energy, and water systems by exploring the interdisciplinary field of agrivoltaics. Students tackle questions related to climate impact on crops, water savings, crop suitability, soil health, geographic variations, solar array design, and stakeholder perspectives. Led by Greg Barron-Gafford, PhD.

The AI and XR STUDIO team works with emerging technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence and extended reality to address challenges that have not been resolved by traditional methods of inquiry or technique, and may be understood differently through a humanistic lens. Led by Matthew Briggs, MFA, Bryan Carter, PhD, and Ash Black, MS.

The AI for Medical Interviewing team focuses on using AI to enhance patient-provider interactions, utilizing multiple technological and educational resources at the Arizona Simulation Technology & Education Center (ASTEC). Students will learn and apply how AI can mediate conversations in healthcare settings. Led by Winslow Burleson, PhD, and Allan Hamilton, MD, FACS.

The AI-Driven Healthcare Applications team focuses on developing AI technology that can perform a range of basic tasks, from detection and recognition of medical conditions to more intricate challenges such as segmentation. The team specializes in developing deep learning systems specifically tailored for embedded computer vision and various healthcare applications. Led by Dr. Eung-Joo Lee, PhD.

The AIDE Lab investigates global economic and environmental challenges which face individuals and households across the globe. A primary interest is measuring the climate adaptation and resilience of rural farmers. Led by Anna Josephson, PhD and Jeffrey D. Michler, PhD.

AAPL is a collaborative research endeavor to study how second and heritage languages (i.e., minority languages learned in a naturalistic context in infancy) are learned and processed by the brain. We use psycholinguistic methods with bilingual adults, often focused on Spanish as a heritage language. Led by Tania Leal, PhD.

AZStreamCAT aims to create a comprehensive map of streamgage and streamflow measurement locations in Arizona, linked to a catalog of metadata. This project addresses the need for accessible streamflow data to manage land, water, energy, agriculture, and wildlife resources. Led by Martha P.L. Whitaker, PhD.

Our RainManSR project, a large-scale rainfall manipulation experiment at the Santa Rita Experimental Range, focuses on predicting the impact of extreme-duration drought on Southwest rangelands. Led by William K. Smith, PhD, Joel Biederman, PhD, Yang Song, PhD, Nathan Pierce, PhD, and Fangyue Zhang, PhD.

In BEST-CLIM, researchers and students collaborate to determine the optimal vegetation structure for maximizing climate cooling potential in arid environments like the US Southwest. Students engaged in BEST-CLIM gain hands-on experience with fieldwork, lab work, data analysis and curation, as well as with dissemination of our findings to administrative, scientific, and public audiences. Led by Flurin Babst, PhD, Don Falk, PhD, William K. Smith, PhD, Willem van Leeuwen, PhD, and Alicja Babst-Kostecka, PhD.

The Biosphere 2 Rainforest Resilience VIP studies long-term ecosystem and individual responses to climate change using the unique environment of the Biosphere 2 rainforest. Students may investigate research questions using long-term environmental data from Biosphere 2, or new measurements taken within the Biosphere 2 rainforest. Led by Joost van Haren, PhD.

The Brain Communication Networks VIP team allows students to apply genetics, basic coding skills, flow cytometry, and protein informatics to predict and then test interactions between cell types in the brain of a simple model organism. We will focus on discovering and mapping ligand-receptor pairs in the brain that are relevant for brain functioning, aging, and/or disease. Led by Martha Bhattacharya, PhD.

This team is currently full for Spring 2025, but see the Application Process section of the BCN VIP page for a link to the current wait list.

The Careers in Dance project aims to support students interested in launching careers as dance artists by providing industry-specific tools and real-world internship experience. Led by Duane Cyrus, MFA; Tamara Dyke-Compton, MFA; and Gianni Howell, BFA.

This team is only offered in the Fall Semester.

The Characterizing the Microbiome of Shelter Animals VIP team aims to establish a baseline gut microbiome of shelter animals, studying alterations in the microbiome due to enteric pathogens and medications, with a focus on improving the health and well-being of these animals. Led by Margarethe Cooper, PhD, and Kerry Cooper, PhD.

The Co-Design Collaborative (Co-Lab) VIP team works alongside organizations and communities in seeking to answer the question: How can we design more equitable and inclusive spaces for participation? The team will collaborate on projects related to reimagining the processes by which we organize to make progress on adaptive challenges facing our communities (e.g., racial and gender inequities, peace and security, food justice). Led by Dr. Jasmine R. Linabary, PhD.

The Cohort Study for Catching Barriers to Falls Prevention is a participatory research project that aims to understand barriers preventing older adults from enrolling in fall prevention programs. Led by Tawab Saljuqi, MD, DrPH.

This team is currently full for Spring 2025.

The CARE VIP focuses on understanding the intersection of climate change and reproductive decision-making, foregrounding the perspectives of young BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) in the Southwestern U.S. While some exposure to qualitative research is needed, skills that students will develop in this VIP include qualitative research design, discourse analysis, interviews, focus groups, data management, data analysis, and research presentation. Led by Janelle Lamoreaux, PhD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Coral Reef Resilience VIP aims to understand the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors on the physiology of corals. The three team leaders take complementary approaches from the fields of biology, geosciences and mathematics to understand how corals will be affected by future climate change and what we can do to promote their resiliency. Led by Jeremiah Hackett, PhD, Diane Thompson, PhD, and Laura Miller, PhD.

The Cultivating Equitable Food Policy in Southern Arizona VIP is a collaboration between the University of Arizona Food Systems Research Lab and the Pima County Food Alliance. Current research questions focus on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges that are present in Southern Arizona's local food system. Led By Gigi Owen, PhD, Laurel Bellante, PhD, and Shelby Thompson.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill VIP builds on the long-term plant ecology research of Tumamoc Hill, starting with permanent plots first mapped 115 years ago. Students will address questions including "How are desert plants responding to changing climate?" and "What plant characteristics predict how different species respond to climate changes?" Led by Deborah Goldberg, PhD.
This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year

The Developing a Climate-Smart Practice Optimization Tool for Sustainable Agriculture in the US VIP team aims to investigate how agricultural management practices (e.g., biochar addition, fertilization, irrigation, planting, and harvest) can achieve “climate-smart” objectives. Students will integrate observations with AI and process-based models to understand how nutrient use efficiency and water use efficiency can be optimized, and greenhouse gas emissions can be minimized to lead to more climate-smart agriculture. Led by Yang Song, PhD.

The Digital Audiology VIP team explores adoption and implementation of novel technologies in the audiology clinic that can help increase accessibility and affordability of hearing healthcare. Team members will explore how 3D printing and scanning may be used to create custom wearables, understand audiologist and patient perspectives, build capacity for adoption and implementation of novel technologies, and explore alternative means of hearing health knowledge dissemination. Led by Bryan Wong, Ph.D., AuD, CCC-A, and Matthew Briggs, MFA.

DISCAPAZ is a multimedia project aimed at centering the voices and narratives of disabled individuals and their families living along the Arizona-Sonoran border. The project also serves as an interdisciplinary, experiential learning program that facilitates authentic engagement with border communities to address community-identified needs and amplify disabled voices in the borderlands through ongoing digital storytelling. Led by Jacy Farkas, MA, and Celina Urquidez, MPH.

Conservation of wildlife that migrate across international boundaries can be challenged by inconsistent management across annual migratory ranges. Research by the EMIGRA VIP team informs efforts to overcome these challenges, and ultimately aims to develop principles for sustainable and equitable governance of transboundary migratory species. We focus on species that provide ecosystem services (e.g., wildlife viewing, pest suppression, pollination of food plants). Led by Jonathan Derbridge, PhD.

The Environmental and Social Justice VIP team focuses on creating community-driven solutions revolving around sustainability in 1) the US-Mexico Borderlands and 2) Portland, Oregon. These multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary collaborations incorporate culture, history, science, and other topics in seeking sustainable solutions to identified challenges. Led by Caitlyn Hall, PhD, and Nicole Antebi, MFA.

The NASA-sponsored EXCITE team is deploying and operating ground-based network instruments atop the Gould-Simpson Building on the UA campus to study the atmosphere. We are building an interdisciplinary and diverse team of motivated students interested in 1) learning about these instruments, 2) aiding in monitoring their operation and assessing data quality, and 3) analyzing data to learn about atmospheric sciences and hydrology over Tucson, Arizona. Led by Armin Sorooshian, PhD, Avelino Arellano, PhD, and Sylvia Sullivan, PhD.

The Functional Anatomy and Visualization Lab VIP Team focuses on innovative ways to research and communicate complex anatomy in primate systems. Our lab uses medical and biological imaging techniques to answer questions pertaining to form, function, and evolution in living and fossil organisms. Led by Faye McGechie, PhD.

New Team Launching for Spring 2025!
This team is currently full for Spring 2025.

The Gender Equity Research Lab (GERL) focuses on intersectional feminist analyses of equity in U.S. higher education and in the U.S. workforce. We do this to determine if diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics have been achieved within and across various STEM fields. GERL also conducts program evaluation to assess the effectiveness of promising local interventions that seek to increase the number of girls and women in the STEM workforce. Led by Stephanie Murphy, PhD.

The Genomics of Thermotolerant Tomato Reproduction VIP team focuses on developing heat-tolerant tomato cultivars by understanding the molecular mechanisms that control tomato reproduction. We will use genomics to define these molecular adaptations, and determine whether they are sufficient to enhance fruit production of thermosensitive cultivars at high temperature. Led by Dr. Ravishankar Palanivelu, PhD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Getting to Know U VIP team aims to curate large volumes of data collected by higher education institutions. Our focus is building tools that progress from descriptive analytics (developing dashboards) to predictive analytics (predicting future trends) and ultimately to prescriptive analytics (performing what-if analyses). Led by Dr. Greg Heileman, PhD.

Healthy Harvesters aims to create a program promoting health and community resilience through community gardening, specifically addressing melanoma survivors' unique needs. We explore the links between health and environment, offering a unique opportunity to improve the quality of life for Arizonans. Led by Meghan Skiba, PhD and Caitlyn Hall, PhD.

The Historical Biogeography and Extinction Risk Assessment of Recently Extinct Animals VIP team combines ecology/evolutionary biology and data science to understand events related to biodiversity loss. Students will focus on data collection, use of GIS tools, phylogenetic methods, comparative analysis, and use of species distribution models. Led by Cristian Román-Palacios, PhD, and Hector Daniel Garcia.

Four co-occurring trends related to environmental resilience have motivated the development of Modular Integrated Sustainable Agricultural Systems (MISAS) at UA. These include rising global population, food waste, fresh water availability, and increasing urban residence patterns. MISAS, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system, address all four of these issues. by integrating four food systems (fish, mushrooms, insects, plants) into a highly efficient, controlled circular economy system. Led by Goggy Davidowitz, PhD, Kevin Fitzsimmons, PhD, Barry Pryor, PhD, and Murat Kacira, PhD.

The Integrated Climate Research: Ecology, Water, and Weather (ICREWW) VIP team address the main question: How do climate variables change over time, and affect one another? Students may focus primarily on the ecological and phenological aspect, the environmental hydrology and water resources aspect, or the atmospheric weather and climate analysis aspects.  Groups will interact with one another to identify the relationships across these interdisciplinary aspects related to climate change and the regional impacts in the Southwest U.S. Led by Martha Whitaker, PhD, and Theresa Crimmins, PhD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

This project's goal is to better understand the prevalence, transmission, and epidemiological traceback investigation of Cyclospora cayetanensis, a human foodborne and waterborne protozoan parasite that causes cyclosporiasis. Led by Gerardo Lopez, PhD.

The iVoices and Immersive Truth Media Lab VIP team engages students in exploring the digital social world. In the iVoices Media Lab project we produce, teach, and learn from students' stories about technologies in their lives. In the Immersive Truth project, we analyze and prebunk disinformation in the digital media landscape. Led by Diana Daly, PhD.

The goal of this VIP is to understand feedback mechanisms between life, hydrology, and geochemistry, how those mechanisms scale, and how different disciplines converge to address scientific questions on landscape terraformation. Insights gained from LEO can help us learn new ways to address problems ranging from how to build sustainable life support systems for other planets to restoring severely degraded landscapes from mining or other processes. Led by Scott Saleska, PhD, Katerina Dontsova, PhD, and Wei-Ren Ng, MS.

The Learner Corpus Research Group VIP Team brings together undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in developing their knowledge of corpus linguistics, a computational research methodology widely used in linguistics. The project involves the collection and analysis of learner corpora in languages other than English. A learner ‘corpus’ is a large dataset of spoken and written texts by language learners stored and accessed in electronic format. Research questions addressed will relate to language learners' use and development of language patterns in specific contexts. Led by Julieta Fernández, PhD, and Shelley Staples, PhD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Mastering Origami of Two-Dimensional Materials VIP team focuses on manipulating one-atom-thick materials to create novel structures with unique electrical, optical, and quantum properties. Students work with advanced nanomanipulation techniques and microscopy to develop innovative methods for precisely controlling and stacking 2D materials. Led by Brian Kim, PhD.

New Team Launching for Spring 2025!

The Microbial Metabolome of Diverse Ecosystems VIP aims to bridge the gap between metabolomics and environmental ecosystem processes, focusing on understanding how below-ground microbial communities acclimate and adapt to rapid environmental changes. Led by Malak Tfaily, PhD.

The Microbial Volatilome VIP aims to understand the role of volatile compounds in microbial metabolism, focusing on studying the diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by microbial communities. Students will gain experience in ecosystem genomics focusing on using molecular tools to assess microbial diversity and function in agricultural and urban soils. They will also become familiar with various soil science methods for measuring soil properties, volatile organic compounds, and experimental design. Led by Laura Meredith, PhD and Vanessa Buzzard, PhD.

The Mobile Health - Evaluating a Health Screening Program VIP Team uses data collected over many years of serving the Tucson community to address the question: What is the impact of a health screening program on public housing residents, and does linking those residents to medical care improve their ability to receive medical care in the future? Led by Alicia Dinsmore, MPH, Ron Sorensen, MS, MA, and Viridiana Johnson, MS, MD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Molecular Structure and Dynamics Lab conducts research in physical chemistry. Students are trained to do research in one of four core topic areas: computer-hardware interface, organic synthesis, electronic circuits, or microwave spectroscopy. Led by Adam Daly, PhD, and Stephen Kukolich, ScD.

Optical Imaging to Advance Healthcare and Biomedicine team focuses on applying optical imaging to advance screening, diagnosis, and treatment of different diseases, primarily cancer. We do this by conducting rigorous imaging studies of different tissue types, and advanced image analysis to identify biomarkers. Led by Travis Sawyer, PhD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Orthopaedic Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Laboratory focuses on developing and testing orthopaedic biomaterials and implantable sensors, aiming to regenerate musculoskeletal tissues including bone and cartilage. A second goal is to develop bone bondable sensors that will facilitate measurement of fracture healing and monitor long-term bone health. Led by David Margolis, MD.

The Precision Aging Network Student Ambassadors team focuses on introducing students to aging research, providing training in public health principles and community engagement, and promoting culturally appropriate approaches to increase older and racial/ethnic minority individuals' participation in brain health research. Led by Zhao Chen, PhD, Tomas Nuño, PhD, and Amanda E. Sokan, PhD.

The Printable Photovoltaics VIP team aims to develop scalable approaches for fabricating efficient and environmentally stable printable photovoltaic devices based on metal halide perovskites. Perovskites can have performance characteristics similar to silicon, but need additional investigation to ensure their chemical and thermomechanical stability. Led by Adam Printz, PhD.

The Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs) for Long-Duration Energy Storage VIP team focuses on developing a new class of electrolyte for RFBs to address long-duration energy storage challenges. Led by Thomas L. Gianetti, PhD, and Jules Moutet, PhD.

The SciKind Team partners with the community to co-create and implement a theory-based, research-informed model to increase kind behavior. More kind behavior fosters a connected community, leading to improved health and well-being outcomes. Led by Jeannette Maré, PhD.

NEW Team for Spring 2025!
This team is currently full for Spring 2025.

The Sleep and Circadian Research Group VIP aims to promote quality of life for patients with sleep disorders by improving knowledge about sleep and circadian rhythms. Topics of study include obstructive sleep apnea and jet lag, including cardiac effects. Led by Salma Patel, MD, and Imran Patel, DMD.

This team is currently full for the 2024-2025 school year.