Restriction: Permission of department. Students must apply through the VIP@Maryland application process in order to join a VIP team.

How do undergraduate students come to see themselves as researchers? What shapes their experiences, builds their confidence, and helps them navigate challenges? Rooted in social and data sciences, the Research/Research VIP Team analyzes student experiences using multi- andmixed-methods approaches. In addition to addressing questions about undergraduate research experiences, our team works to better understand, test, and propose best practices for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance traditional qualitative research methods. Team members will develop hands-on skills in qualitative research, mixed-methods research, and experience analyzing data using AI & machine learning techniques.

Restriction: Permission of department. Students must apply through the VIP@Maryland application process in order to join a VIP team.

Our research focuses on the design of nucleotide-based Biosensors and point-of-care diagnostics for human and Environmental health-related challenges. Students conduct research in the field of synthetic biology, which is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of engineering and biology. Students work in small teams to design, build, and test biosensors using molecular biology laboratory techniques. This research group actively collaborates and is co-located with a connected undergraduate research group - FIRE Molecular Diagnostics.

Restriction: Permission of department. Students must apply through the VIP@Maryland application process in order to join a VIP team.

Interested in tackling the flood of information and distractions from mobile devices and social media that challenge our engagement with important information? Join the Digital Engagement Lab to design, build, and test innovative tools for communicating multimedia to diverse audiences. Students from all majors including computer and data science, communication, journalism, business, education, psychology, and statistics research cutting-edge solutions using AI, machine learning, data visualizations, and mobile apps.

Restriction: Permission of department. Students must apply through the VIP@Maryland application process in order to join a VIP team.

Design, build, test, and fly engineering experiments to the Edge of Space and beyond! Most of our flights are on latex weather balloons which can go up to an altitude of 100,000 ft or above, but we may also fly on high-altitude long-duration NASA balloons and sounding rockets. A common theme in all this research is designing light weight and low-cost experiments that can produce meaningful data and results in flight. We also like to share our enthusiasm for space engineering with kids, so we have a number of ongoing outreach activities that we encourage all participants to get involved in.

Restriction: Permission of department. Students must apply through the VIP@Maryland application process in order to join a VIP team.

Having a hands-on lab component to fluid dynamics courses has always been an important part of the pedagogy. Traditional instruction has required expensive room-sized equipment that is used by relatively large groups, limiting the time for exploration and real understanding of the important principles. This project is developing a series of instructional kits that can be purchased by individual students and used at home, permitting a more creative and individualized exploration of the material, and a greater sense of ownership and depth of understanding. If you have an interest in thinking about a new way of learning, and/or interest in remote-controlled vehicles and model construction/design, this project may be a good fit for you!