Pratt Research Fellows
The Pratt Research Fellows Program is a unique, immersive opportunity for undergraduates to conduct authentic research with a faculty member. It’s a deeply engaging and rewarding experience. Typically, Pratt Fellows also graduate With Departmental Distinction and many other honors.
Third-year and advanced second-year students are encouraged to apply. Applications are accepted each fall, with a deadline of October 31.
Save the date: 2026 Poster Session
2:00 to 4:00 pm, April 23 | Gross Hall Room 330
Light refreshments served.
Program Details
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Traditional
- Three (3) independent study semesters. Students earn a total of 3 course credits
- 10-week, full-time internship experience on campus for one summer
- Students receive a stipend of $6,000 to cover living expenses incurred during the summer research experience.
Alternative
- Four (4) independent study semesters
- Students earn a total of four course credits.
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Pratt Research Fellows work on projects under the direction of dedicated faculty advisors. Course credit is given in your major in a linked three-semester course sequence:
- 394: Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Projects
Intensive research project selected by a Pratt Engineering Undergraduate Fellow. Course credit is contingent upon satisfactory completion of 493 and 494. - 493: Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Projects
Continuation course for Engineering Undergraduate Fellows, contingent upon satisfactory completion of 394 - 494: Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Projects
Final course for Engineering Undergraduate Fellows, contingent upon satisfactory completion of 394 and 493
- 394: Engineering Undergraduate Fellows Projects
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- Browse available research projects for your graduating class
- Browse samples of possible additional projects from last year’s research projects
- Contact and meet with engineering faculty to learn more about their projects
- Select up to six (6) research projects
- Rank your selected projects in order of preference
- Request a reference letter from an engineering faculty member
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In the research projects section of your application, provide the Project Title and the Faculty name(s) for each preferred project.
Ensure that your reference letter is submitted as an email attachment to Referen.ausriencbxpyiwd5@u.box.com.
Complete and submit your application by October 31.
Program Coordinator
Featured Stories
Katherine Li: A Binding Research Experience
Katherine Li researched the ability of bacteria to bind to water contaminants metals like cadmium and lead
Becca Lau: Pandemic Pivot Enables Materials Science for Future Nanomaterials
The Pratt Fellow and Grand Challenges Scholar developed a computational focus, leading to materials science research in a faculty lab.
Yi Chen: Embracing New Challenges
Pratt Fellow Yi Chen switched his major from music to engineering; his research project seeks to squeeze more energy from batteries
Anokh Ambadipudi
- Major: Biomedical Engineering & Computer Science
- Faculty Mentor: John Hickey
- Project Title: Computational Determination of Cellular Organization Across Tissues
Claire Andreasen
- Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering & Physics BA
- Faculty Mentor: David Mitzi
- Project Title: Formation and Properties of a q = 2 Quasi-1D Hybrid Perovskite
Geena-Luise Buentipo
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: John Hickey
- Project Title: Pseudospacetime Analysis to Extract Temporal Variance in Spatial Data
Daniel Chong
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Jason Luck
- Project Title: Informing and Augmenting Existing and Future Helmet Standards by Quantifying the Relationship Between Instrumented Mouthguard Fit and Accuracy over a Season of Play in Collegiate Males and Females
Julian Eduardo Diaz-Ayala
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Gayathri Devi and Megan Madonna
- Project Title: Engineered Multichannel Biomimetic of the Tumor-Lymphatic Architecture
Anthony Du
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Ashutosh Chilkoti and Mark Chen
- Project Title: Antibody directed labeling of bio-molecular condensates
Kunyu (Kimi) Du
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: David Mummy and Bastiaan Driehuys
- Project Title: Quantitative Imaging of Pulmonary Function via Fractional Ventilation Using Xenon MRI for Lung Function Analysis
Sean Gao
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: George Truskey
- Project Title:Decoding the Role of piwiRNAs in Endothelial Aging and its Implications for Cellular Senescence and Longevity
Lisa Garnier
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: George Truskey
- Project Title: Directed Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Arterial Endothelial Cells for Vascular Disease Modeling
Nika Ilieva
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Emma Chory
- Project Title: Automated Characterization and Engineering of tRNA Syntehtases
Alexander Ivan
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Philip Romero
- Project Title: Sustainable Enzyme Engineering: Developing Catalysts for Non-Native Reactions in Polymer Chemistry
Pranav Kannan
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Mihai Azoitei and Brent Hoffman
- Project Title: Closed-Loop Protein Inhibitor Binder Design: High-Throughput Generation, Learned Interface Prediction, and Experimental Validation for Vaccine Scaffolds
Yongjae (Steven) Lee
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Tatiana Segura
- Project Title: Chirality in Wound Healing and Regeneration
Jacob Lee
- Major: Mechanical Engineering & Computer Science
- Faculty Mentor: Boyuan Chen
- Project Title: Design and Modelling of the Duke Humanoid V2
Alexander Nelson
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Charles Gersbach
- Project Title: Understanding Gene Regulation in Schizophrenia-Associated Loci
Ryan Su
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Lingchong You
- Project Title: “Characterizing Biomolecular Condensate-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation In a Model Gene Circuit”
Nikol Trajkovski Polastri
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Amy McNulty
- Project Title: Exploring Osmotic Stress-Induced Effects on Calcium Signaling and ECM Homeostasis in the Meniscus
Jennifer Wang
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Josh Huang
- Project Title: Exploring the design principles of an ADAR-based RNA sensor-actuator molecular device
Grant Weerts
- Major: Mechanical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: David Smith
- Project Title: OrbWeaver: Unified Framework for Mission-Driven Satellite Constellation Design and Optimization
Chris Wu
- Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering & amp;Mechanical Engineering & Physics
- Faculty Mentor: Volker Blum
- Project Title: Quantum-Mechanical Simulations of Semiconductors for Optoelectronics
Diego Zalles
- Major: Biomedical Engineering
- Faculty Mentor: Timothy Dunn
- Project Title: FACE-DANNCER Validation: 3-D Orofacial Tracking in Mice