{"id":25475,"date":"2025-10-29T18:34:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/25475\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T18:34:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:34:46","slug":"corridor-partnership-expands-undergraduate-research-and-advances-experiential-learning-at-usf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/25475\/","title":{"rendered":"Corridor partnership expands undergraduate research and advances experiential learning at USF"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida High Tech Corridor<\/a> and USF Research & Innovation<\/a> are expanding opportunities for undergraduate research across the University of South
\n Florida, funding programs in all 14 colleges, USF St. Petersburg, and Undergraduate
\n Studies for 2025\u201326. Through the continued Corridor Undergraduate Research Initiative<\/a>, more than 200 students will gain hands-on, faculty-mentored research experience
\n in disciplines ranging from engineering and artificial intelligence to public health,
\n education, sustainability, and the arts.
\u00a0
Since the program\u2019s launch in 2022, it has supported more than 250 students and helped
\n to launch formal undergraduate research programs across more than half of the colleges
\n at USF. This year\u2019s expansion marks a major milestone in making undergraduate research
\n an accessible and defining part of the USF student experience across all disciplines,
\n aligning with USF\u2019s focus on experiential centered learning<\/a> to drive student\u2019s career readiness. These experiences bridge classroom learning
\n with immersive, real-world research – often for the first time – empowering students
\n to build new skills, confidence, and career pathways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis opportunity really solidified my understanding of what research in a public
\n health setting entailed,\u201d said Ishika Sonthalia, a College of Public Health student
\n whose work led to co-authorship on two studies. \u201cGetting such a close look at the
\n process and being the recipient of hands-on mentoring gave me a solid foundation for
\n what sort of things I should aspire to be capable of when it finally comes to publishing
\n my own research one day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the chance to be an HTC intern with the Center for Ocean Mapping and Innovative
\n Technologies meant so much to me as a student and woman in STEM….Being given the
\n opportunity to learn and grow through this internship, I now feel more qualified to
\n go after roles that are similar,\u201d said Grace Angeli, a Judy Genshaft Honors College
\n student who participated in the College of Marine Science research intern program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To recognize faculty for their critical role in these programs, student success, and
\n undergraduate research, the Corridor Undergraduate Research Initiative also provides
\n faculty stipends to participating colleges. These faculty serve on the Undergraduate
\n Research Council, led by the Office of Student Engagement in Research & Innovation
\n (SERI), to share best practices in student engagement and research administration.<\/p>\n

Grace Angeli explains the research that she conducted at the Center for Ocean Mapping
\n and Innovative Technologies.<\/p>\n

New Initiatives<\/p>\n

Patel College of Global Sustainability – Sustainability Policy & Innovation Undergraduate
\n Research Program
The program will offer faculty-mentored research experiences for students across disciplines,
\n focusing on the Food-Water-Energy Nexus, Climate resilience, and sustainable technology
\n policy, with training in research methods, stakeholder engagement, and policy analysis
\n leading to student-authored outcomes.
\u00a0
Morsani College of Medicine – USF Health Innovation and Technology Scholars Program
This initiative will expand undergraduate research opportunities in emerging healthcare
\n technologies such as extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), and 3D printing
\n by pairing them with faculty mentors and integrating them into active projects at
\n the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS).
\u00a0
Undergraduate Studies – Cultivating Student Scholars Through the Transfer Engagement
\n and Achievement Mentorship (TEAM) Program
This program will enhance the TEAM Program, a student-to-student mentor program for
\n transfer students at USF, to introduce a research readiness component that directly
\n engages first-year transfer and students from the Fuse Transfer Program, focusing
\n on foundational research skills, faculty engagement, and confidence-building to support
\n their academic and research success.<\/p>\n

Recurring Initiatives<\/p>\n

Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing – REU Interdisciplinary
\n Research Support for Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and
\n Computing
The Bellini College\u2019s REU program aims to give undergraduate students an opportunity
\n to participate in interdisciplinary research involving AI, Cybersecurity, Computing,
\n as research assistants with professors and graduate students on a variety of exciting
\n existing and new research projects.
\u00a0
College of Arts & Sciences – Forever Resilient: Cross-College, Community-Engaged Research
\n in the Spatial Dynamics of Emerging Chemical Threats along Social and Ecological Gradients
\n in Tampa Bay
Forever Resilient builds on the prior funded program to provide first-time undergraduate
\n researchers with interdisciplinary training and mentorship to study PFAS chemicals
\n and community resilience through fieldwork and data collection across Tampa Bay.
\u00a0
College of Behavioral & Community Sciences \u2013 CBCS Corridor Undergraduate Research
\n Initiative
Building on last year’s successful launch, the iAREU program seeks to expand undergraduate
\n research in the college providing students with hands-on experience in data-driven
\n projects across business areas such as business analytics, financial modeling, supply
\n chain optimization, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship, using tools like Python,
\n R, and JavaScript, with a focus on real-world innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
\u00a0
College of Design, Art, and Performance \u2013 Field based Research Assistantships in Entertainment
\n Design & Technology
Students will conduct research field work in Entertainment Design by assisting faculty
\n on professional or USF productions, using cutting-edge design technology like 3D rendering,
\n lighting software, and AI-generated art to explore career pathways in theatre, film,
\n and live performance.
\u00a0
College of Education \u2013 Educational Research in the Classroom & Beyond: The College
\n of Education Undergraduate Summer Research Academy
The Summer Research Academy allows 10 undergraduate research scholars in the College
\n to experience and learn about research through a guided program providing opportunities
\n for students to hear from researchers and collaborate with peers as they work on research
\n projects now enhanced with integrated AI training to deepen their research skills
\n and exposure.
\u00a0
College of Engineering \u2013 Expanding Opportunities: Undergraduate Research for Florida\u2019s
\n Future STEM Workforce
The College\u2019s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program will be expanded
\n to give undergraduate students an opportunity to participate directly in research
\n efforts as research assistants with professors and graduate students on a variety
\n of exciting and interdisciplinary research projects.
\u00a0
Judy Genshaft Honors College \u2013 USF Undergraduate Research Portal \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
The student research team is enhancing the Undergraduate Research Portal, a resource
\n used by over 2,500 students, by adding new features like customization and faculty
\n profile upgrades, while expanding access to the broader USF and Tampa Bay communities
\n for research collaboration.
\u00a0
College of Marine Science \u2013 C-MORE Internship (Coastal Mapping, Observation, Research
\n & Ecology)
This program allows students from across disciplines to experience short duration
\n field experiences such as research cruises providing hands on experience in field
\n work activities gaining laboratory, field, and computational skills while also participating
\n in structured science communication training.
\u00a0
College of Nursing \u2013 Undergraduate Biobehavioral Researchers Program (UBRP)
The program provides undergraduate students with an immersive experience in laboratory
\n research, tailoring their experiences according to their interests and skill levels
\n with mentorship from the lab director, research assistants, and graduate-level students.
\u00a0
Taneja College of Pharmacy – Laboratory based research training for USF Undergraduate
\n students
This program provides undergraduate students across disciplines hands-on research
\n experiences with faculty in areas like in vitro research, bioinformatics, pharmacology,
\n and immunohistochemistry, offering lab-based training and mentorship to support their
\n learning and contributions to real-world research.
\u00a0
College of Public Health \u2013 COPH Connect to Success: A Program to Enhance Research
\n Mentorship for Undergraduate Students
Through a 10-week program public health and health sciences students will contribute
\n to a research project guided by faculty mentors on topics such as health equity and
\n disparities affecting underserved and marginalized populations.
\u00a0
USF St. Petersburg \u2013 Summer Academy for Investigative Learning (SAIL)
The continued SAIL Program will introduce undergraduate participants, especially those
\n new to research, to the profound significance of research in our ever-evolving society,
\n challenge them to confront local and global issues, and empower them to actively engage
\n in research endeavors at USF and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida High Tech Corridor and USF Research & Innovation are expanding opportunities for undergraduate research across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-25475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}