The first cohort of fellows to the NSF NeXUS Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program presented on their research July 23rd and 29th, 2026. The students spent 10 weeks at The Ohio State University conducting research under the mentorship of a faculty advisor and graduate student mentor. NeXUS scientists also provided technical and career guidance. The program included two field trips and weekly professional development seminars to give the students insight into graduate education and careers in research.
The 2026 REU fellows were:
Zakaria El-Helw, University of Central Florida
Research Project Title: "Detecting Field-like Torque in Fe/V Bilayers via Current-Modulated and Time-Resolved Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect"
Faculty Advisor: Roland Kawakami
Chloe Jones, University of South Florida
Research Project Title: "Modelling Protein Environment Effects on Excited States of LOV Domain Chromophores using Polarizable Embedding and QD-NEVPT2"
Faculty Advisor: Alexander Yu. Sokolov
Jeremy Satterfield, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Research Project Title: "Synthesizing and Characterizing Bismuth Complexes"
Faculty Advisor: Claudia Turro
Richard Shulyak, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Research Project Title: "Photoelectric Work Function Measurements of Potassium Dosed HOPG"
Faculty Advisor: Jay Gupta
