Barnard College Barnard College
Research & Scholarship

About the Summer Research Institute

Carla Hachicho, SRI 2018

The Summer Research Institute reflects Barnard's commitment to advancing excellence in STEM fields, while fostering close collaborations between faculty and student researchers. In 2021, a total of 247 students received funding to conduct faculty-mentored research in laboratories at Barnard College, at Columbia University, at labs around New York City. They also had access to subsidized on-campus housing.

In addition to funding and mentorship, SRI provides access to trainings, faculty lectures, and workshops. SRI culminates with the program-wide Lida Orzeck '68 Poster Session, at which students share the findings of their research with mentors, peers, and other guests of the College. The result is an intensive interdisciplinary community of individuals with a shared commitment to excellence in the sciences, and a summer of pathbreaking research conducted at the highest level.

Questions about SRI can be sent to sri@barnard.edu. 

Barnard SRI Departments & Faculty Representatives

  • Biology  (Faculty Representative: Professor Jon Snow)
  • Chemistry (Faculty Representative: Professor Christian Rojas)
  • Cognitive Science (Faculty Representative: Professor John Morrison)
  • Computer Science (Faculty Representative: Professor Brian Plancher)
  • Environmental Science (Faculty Representative: Professor Martin Stute)
  • Mathematics & Statistics (Faculty Representative: Professor Daniela De Silva)
  • Neuroscience & Behavior (Faculty Representative: Professor John Glendinning)
  • Physics and Astronomy (Faculty Representative: Professor Reshmi Mukherjee)
  • Psychology (Faculty Representative: Professor Kate Thorson)

About one-third of SRI students in a given summer work with mentors whose academic home is at Barnard College. All other students work with mentors at Columbia (including the Medical School, Mailman School of Public Health, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Zuckerman Institute, and others), NYU, the Icahn School, The Rockefeller University, and many others across New York City. Below, find a list of Barnard mentors participating in SRI this year:

Biology

Chemistry

  • Buzzeo, Marisa, mbuzzeo@barnard.edu, Biological Physical Chemistry (The Buzzeo group uses electrochemical techniques to study fundamental properties and develop sensing applications of redox-active biological molecules.)
  • Campbell, Michael, mcampbell@barnard.edu, Inorganic Chemistry (The Campbell group studies structure/function relationships in transition metal complexes and materials, for applications including catalysis and chemical sensing.)
  • Donegan, Rebecca, rdonegan@barnard.edu, Biochemistry (The Donegan lab studies how bacterial pathogens acquire essential metals and metallonutrients from the host and incorporate these nutrients into their metabolism.)
  • Liu, Suqing, sqliu@barnard.edu, Teaching Lab Experiment Development (Dr. Liu and her students will develop and test new experiments for the General Chemistry Laboratory curriculum.  This work will involve writing and validation of experimental procedures, including use of instrumentation.)
  • Rojas, Christian, crojas@barnard.edu, Organic Synthesis (Rojas and his students develop and apply new reactions for organic chemical synthesis, especially in the area of amino sugar synthesis. Another current interest is working with Prof. Christina Vizcarra's group on the synthesis of small-molecule inhibitors of actin assembly)
  • Vizcarra, Christina, cvizcarra@barnard.edu, Biochemistry (The Vizcarra lab studies the biochemical mechanisms of proteins that regulate the cytoskeleton, with wide-ranging applications in metalloneurochemistry, the auditory system, and drug discovery.)

Computer Science

Environmental Science

Math & Statistics

  • Students should be in touch with Barnard Faculty Department Rep Daniela De Silva (ddesilva@barnard.edu) to discuss possibilities of working with Columbia University mentors.

Neuroscience & Behavior

  • Balsam, Peter, pbalsam@barnard.edu (Adapting behavior to changing environments)
  • Bauer, Elizabeth, ebauer@barnard.edu (Neural mechanisms underlying emotional memory)
  • Fernandez, Maria, mfernand@barnard.edu (Neural mechanisms underlying aggressive behavior and territoriality and the relation between the circadian clock and social behaviors, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system)
  • Glendinning, John, jglendin@barnard.edu (Chemical senses, ingestive behavior, food likes and dislikes)
  • Romeo, Russell, rromeo@barnard.edu (Effects of pubertal maturation on brain and behavior)
  • White, Alex, alwhite@barnard.edu (Visual perception, attention & reading)

Physics & Astronomy

Psychology

  • Thorson, Katherine, kthorson@barnard.edu (psychological and psychophysiological reactions during interpersonal interactions)