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Welcome to the 2026-2027 Academic Year

A group picture of the correspondents. From left to right: Jamilah Araf ’29, Mai Tran ’29, Maya Cabrera ’27, Angel Toasakul ’27, Haya Elamir ’27, Gabriel Ascoli ’27, and Stanley Stoutamire ’27.
From left to right: Jamilah Araf ’29, Mai Tran ’29, Maya Cabrera ’27, Angel Toasakul ’27, Haya Elamir ’27, Gabriel Ascoli ’27, and Stanley Stoutamire ’27.

Welcome to another year with PCUR! To start the semester off, we already have many great posts lining up starting next week. Please stay tuned for our first post of the academic year and join us on the journey of reflection and exploration through Princeton undergraduate research.

Returning as Chief Correspondent, it is my great pleasure to welcome back our returning PCUR correspondents: Gabriel Ascoli ’27, Haya Elamir ’27, Aishah Shahid ’28, and Stanley Stoutamire ’27. I am also honored to introduce our new correspondents: Jamilah Araf ’29, Maya Cabrera ’27, and Mai Tran ’29.

Returning PCUR Correspondents

Gabriel Ascoli ’27 is a Classics major whose research spans from studying ancient Greek and Roman perspectives on death to researching cancer immunology and pediatric leukemia. He is interested in how these different fields can come together to better understand and help people.

Haya Elamir ’27 is a Molecular Biology major interested in cellular function and immunology. Her research has explored both cancer and the gut microbiome, driven by her interest in understanding disease at the cellular level and contributing to human health.

Aishah Shahid ’28 is an Electrical and Computer Engineering major interested in the intersection of technology and social impact. Her research has ranged from microwave cancer detection to local food systems and how they can better support underserved communities.

Stanley Stoutamire ’27 studies Medical Anthropology and is particularly interested in rural medicine and healthcare equity. His research and broader interests explore the ways health and medicine intersect with history, society, and the lives of different communities.

New PCUR Correspondents

Maya Cabrera ’27 is an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major whose research focuses on the intersection of laboratory, field, and computational approaches to understand how organisms respond to environmental pressures. She has conducted studies across infections and microbiomes in bees and field research on tropical ecosystems.

Jamilah Araf ’29 is a Neuroscience major interested in developmental psychology and the ways young children learn. Through the Princeton Baby Lab, she studies the neural processes underlying language learning in toddlers, while also exploring the intersection of psychology and film.

Mai Tran ’29 is a Chemical and Biological Engineering major interested in materials science and energy. Her current research explores nanoporous materials for carbon capture and computational modeling, building on her earlier work on solid-state electrolytes for batteries.

PCUR Chief Correspondent

Hi again! My name is Angel Toasakul, and I am a senior in the neuroscience department. I am excited to return to PCUR this year as Chief Correspondent. Since sophomore year, when I first joined PCUR as a Natural Sciences Correspondent, I have been exploring my interests in memory and brain health research. Through my experiences in the Computational Memory Lab and brain-based educational outreach through founding Mobile Brain Lab, I have been particularly motivated to understand how research can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives through both discoveries and education.

Please visit our correspondents’ profiles to learn more about each correspondent and follow along with their work throughout the year.

— Angel Toasakul, Chief Correspondent

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Conduct Research Independent Work Present & Publish Findings Research Life Resources

How to Make a Poster: 5 Things I Learned from a Poster Workshop

Over the last few weeks of the semester, I needed to make two posters. In preparation, I attended a poster workshop that made me think more intentionally about how to make an effective poster. I’ve outlined some of my key takeaways below that I hope can offer guidance to anyone preparing a poster of their own. 

Image of Princeton Research Day from a higher vantage point in the Princeton University Art Museum
Princeton Research Day in the Princeton University Art Museum. Photo credit: Sameer Khan / Fotobuddy.
Continue reading “How to Make a Poster: 5 Things I Learned from a Poster Workshop”
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Independent Work Present & Publish Findings

Reflections on the Writing Process for Humanities Work

An ink quill and parchment.
An ink quill and parchment. Photo credit: Mushki Brichta.

With two junior papers under my belt now, I’ve been taking some time to reflect on my writing strategies as I gear up to tackle my senior thesis next year. I’ve accumulated a list of what I think I would have benefited most from hearing, and I intend to take these lessons with me for my next year of work.

Continue reading “Reflections on the Writing Process for Humanities Work”
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Conduct Research Independent Work Resources

Traveling with Purpose: How Academic Travel Enriched My Experiences

Just this year, I had the opportunity to travel through Princeton twice: once over winter break for my senior thesis and PIIRS Undergraduate Fellowship fieldwork in Taiwan, and again over spring break through ART 481: Alaskan Art, Spirit, and Being: Healing Histories of Dispossession, when I traveled to Alaska for class. As a senior in my final spring semester, spending both my last winter and spring breaks traveling for academic purposes has been more than fulfilling. It has been one of the most meaningful parts of my Princeton experience.

Both trips reminded me that academic travel is about much more than going somewhere new. Traveling with purpose changes what you notice, who you meet, and what you are able to learn. It opens up conversations, relationships, and opportunities for insight that you likely would not have had otherwise.

Local fishermen sitting near fishing rod on shore, looking out into a horizon of oyster aquaculture and an offshore wind farm
Local fishers on shore against a backdrop of oyster aquaculture and the Yunlin Offshore Wind Farm.
Continue reading “Traveling with Purpose: How Academic Travel Enriched My Experiences”
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Research Life

Sun, Science and Schedules: Don’t Let Summer Happen to You

Tree in summer framed by Princeton dorm architecture.
Beautiful summer view at Princeton. Photo Credit: Denise Applewhite.

For those planning to spend their summer researching whether it’s your first foray or your senior thesis, there are a few things that I have taken into consideration this year with my own planning that I think will be useful for others.

Continue reading “Sun, Science and Schedules: Don’t Let Summer Happen to You”
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Plan Beyond Graduation Research Life Resources

5 Things to Consider When Declaring a Minor

As someone with interdisciplinary interests, major selection was challenging. I could have easily seen myself fitting into multiple different departments, so I struggled to choose just one. One way that I stayed connected with multiple departments was by declaring minors.

The exterior of 1879 Hall at Princeton University.
One of my minors was in Religion, which is housed here in 1879 Hall. Photo credit: Denise Applewhite.
Continue reading “5 Things to Consider When Declaring a Minor”
Categories
Independent Work Present & Publish Findings

The Experience of Writing a JP: Straight from the Primary Source

Student sits in a chair on a sunny day at Cannon Green
Thinking in Cannon Green (probably about a JP!). Photo Credit: Matt Raspanti.

It’s that time of year: I am writing a Junior Proposal as a molecular biology major. There are a few things I found about this experience that have humbled me very deeply. I obviously did not expect a cakewalk. I think it’s a good time for me to let juniors know; it’s not necessarily a difficult experience, but it’s strangely timed. The deadlines (at least for my major) are right in the middle of a somewhat hectic time between exams and the long stretch of spring semester post-spring break. Many of my peers (including myself) have been doing experiments for a while now, and working on the paper feels like coming up for air from a very deep lair at the bottom of the ocean. It can be very disorienting. The issue is that it requires a different way of thinking than when you’re in the midst of experimentation.

Continue reading “The Experience of Writing a JP: Straight from the Primary Source”
Categories
Independent Work Present & Publish Findings

Writing a Historiography

Historiographies are historical analyses of the historical scholarship written about a given subject. Rather than just identifying gaps in a scholarly conversation, historiographies analyze how that historical literature has been produced and how it has changed over time. Writing a historiography gives you the chance to make a historical argument about how the knowledge in your field has developed and evolved. However, approaching a whole new field of literature as an undergraduate researcher can be overwhelming. Here are some strategies I’ve used to parse historical literature and write historiographies for my independent work. 

Shelves filled with books in Firestone Library.
I start my historiographies in Firestone looking for a wide range of literature. Photo credit: Denise Applewhite.
Continue reading “Writing a Historiography”
Categories
Research Life

Incorporating Lessons from Coursework and Research Into Day to Day Life

A sarcophagus depicting Priam kneeling and kissing Achilles' hand.
Sarcophagus depicting king Priam imploring Achilles for the return of the body of his son, Tyre, 2nd cent AD. Photo Credit: National Museum of Beirut.

I am a Classics major on the pre-medical track, which means I spend roughly equal parts of my intellectual life in ancient texts and clinical/STEM spaces. Most people, when I tell them this, assume I’m describing a contradiction – humanities on one side, medicine on the other, and me shuttling awkwardly between them. How can my work with Ancient Greek and Latin texts possibly inform my time with patients who live in a modern world and are treated with modern medicine? How can all the time I’ve spent thinking about literature, philosophy, and art from different time periods be relevant to my day-to-day life, or my future career as a physician?

Continue reading “Incorporating Lessons from Coursework and Research Into Day to Day Life”
Categories
Conduct Research Present & Publish Findings Research Life Resources

Understanding the Invisible: Rishika’s Work in Space and Plasma Physics

Rishika at the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics 2025 Conference.
Rishika at the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics 2025 Conference.
Funding acknowledgement: Received a student travel grant and outstanding student presenter award from the American Physical Society. Picture taken by Rishika Porandla.

At Princeton, research does not always look the way people imagine. It is not always telescopes pointed toward the sky or chalkboards filled with equations. Sometimes, it happens in quiet laboratories where the goal is to understand things you cannot even see, like streams of charged particles moving through space.

For Rishika Porandla, a member of the Class of 2028 majoring in astrophysics, this is exactly where her work lives. Her research sits at the intersection of space, plasma, and the instruments that allow scientists to study both.

Continue reading “Understanding the Invisible: Rishika’s Work in Space and Plasma Physics”