Each spring semester, it feels like many of us find ourselves scrambling to find unique, competitive, and exciting research experiences. In these intense weeks full of interviews, rejections, and offers, it is also important to think ahead about what comes next. Although staying connected with your research team after a program or internship ends can present a unique set of challenges, it can just as easily open up a number of new opportunities. This was a dynamic I had to adjust to at the end of my research internship last summer. Through that personal experience, I have found that consistent and clear communication are key after any research experience.
The Majorana 1 Chip.Photo by John Brecher for Microsoft.
In light of recent discussions in the scientific and engineering community, I wanted to take a closer look at Microsoft’s latest announcement in quantum computing. As someone deeply interested in the intersection of research and innovation, I was curious about what this means for the field. Is this truly a turning point in quantum computing, or is there still more work to be done? As part of Now & Next, a new series dedicated to exploring current events, groundbreaking research, and forward-looking trends in engineering, this post delves into Microsoft’s research, the promise of topological qubits, and how the research community is responding. This could be the dawning age for quantum computing, or another step in a long journey. Let’s dive into what’s going on now and what’s coming next with Microsoft’s quantum computing announcement.
A figure of national research stations in Antarctica, which I recently created for my research using the Python library Cartopy.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved maps—I was a major geography nerd growing up. Jumping forward to today, my like-minded roommates are just as obsessed as I am: the walls of our dorm are literally covered floor to ceiling with maps. These include (but are not limited to) a glaciological map of Antarctica, public transport maps of numerous cities (Toulouse, Christchurch, and New York are just some examples), and a road map of my home state of Washington!
Maps aren’t just a fun hobby: They’re also enormously important in numerous research fields (in addition, of course, to just being plain useful). Whether your research field of interest is history or meteorology or epidemiology, there’s a good chance that you’ll be reading—and making!—some maps. In my own field of glaciology, maps are of paramount importance, whether it’s a map of glacier melt contribution from southeast Alaska or a map of Antarctic ice core sites. I’ve written this guide to provide some helpful resources and tools for making maps for your research, so hopefully it will serve as a good starting point! I should note that this isn’t a tutorial, but plenty of great tutorials should exist on the Internet for all of these tools.
Hailing from Saipan and South Korea, Cevina Hwang is a junior in the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology department. With a longstanding interest in the field of dentistry, she chose to expand upon this passion through her junior work, where she will be exploring the evolution of the human jaw and teeth.
Join me below to read about Cevina’s journey in the junior work process.
Book Cover of The IMF and Economic Development by James Raymond Vreeland(Cambridge University Press)
James Raymond Vreeland, a Ph.D. graduate from New York University, holds the position of Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Department of Politics. His research focuses on international political economy, particularly in the realm of international institutions, and serves on the editorial board of International Organization. His publications span various scholarly journals, such as American Political Science Review, International Organization, and Journal of Politics, showcasing his extensive contributions to academia.
As a former student in POL 396: International Organizations, I was introduced to a wide range of research on international organizations, including works by academic scholars and Professor Vreeland himself. While continuing my Research Insights Series from last spring, a series of blog posts to provide glimpses into the current research landscape at Princeton, I knew I wanted to interview Professor Vreeland. As my first politics course at Princeton, it sparked my curiosity about political science research, and more broadly, research in the social sciences.
Many books in a library. Citing them all would probably take a long time. Credit: Emil Widlund
If I have to be completely honest, dealing with citations is my least favorite portion of the academic writing process. Ascertaining what citation style I need to use, successfully figuring out how to actually format citations in that style, and managing the hodgepodge of footnotes and endnotes are all tasks that seem, to me, cumbersome. Of course, these are necessary tasks: it is imperative that if we paraphrase, quote, or utilize in any way the work of others, we should always attribute the proper credit to them. But recognizing the importance of academic integrity doesn’t prevent us from still finding the task of dealing with citations to be a chore! If you’re in the same boat as I am, I’ll try to provide some advice and tips on dealing with citations!
Anna Calveri ’26 is a junior in the Computer Science department. On campus, she is a member of Princeton University Robotics Club, Sympoh Urban Arts Crew, and Colonial Club.
The senior thesis is a hallmark of the Princeton experience, giving students the opportunity to conduct original research under the mentorship of a faculty adviser. Every senior is required to write a thesis, with the exception of Computer Science majors in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) degree program. Instead, these students are required to undertake a substantial independent project, called independent work (IW), which can take the form of a traditional one-on-one project with an adviser, an IW seminar where a small group of students independently conduct projects tied to the seminar’s main theme, or an optional senior thesis.
In 2022, I interviewed Shannon Heh ’23 about her experience in an IW seminar, where she highlighted the structure and guidance the professor and course seminar. This year, I wanted to explore the perspective of a B.S.E. Computer Science student who pursued a different option: the one-on-one IW project.
Anna Calveri ’26 stood out as the perfect person to speak with, not just because of her exciting research at the Princeton Vision & Learning Lab led by Professor Jia Deng, but also because she began her project during the summer as a ReMatch+ intern and built on it during the fall semester. While many students only work on their IW within a single semester, Anna’s approach of extending her research across both the summer and fall gave her the chance to deepen her research and hit the ground running with impressive progress.
The start of 2025 has been an interesting one to say the least when it comes to research. New breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence models are rapidly advancing our understanding of everything from ancient texts to protein structures. At the same time, they have complicated the publishing process by introducing a flood of junk to scientific journals. Turning to the federal level, years of biomedical research has culminated in the FDA approval of a new non-opioid pain medication. Developments like this are happening while major national pillars of our research structure face confusing directives amidst a clear priority shift in budget allocation. The degree of uncertainty researchers at the undergraduate level face today can feel overwhelming, but uncertainty is intrinsic to research across all disciplines. Whether that uncertainty is caused by human participants or dated lab equipment, it’s an aspect of research across the board. The unique large-scale uncertainties confronting researchers today can be faced using the same ways uncertainty is addressed during the research process.
Research is always top of mind here. Princeton is a research university. Princeton faculty are engaged in research. Princeton students complete independent research to graduate. These are just some of the ways that we collectively understand what research is as Princeton. Yet, the images that can come to mind when thinking about “research” are quite limited. The idea of research conjures up images of bubbling chemicals and expensive technical equipment. That picture of grueling lab work is illustrative of some disciplines, but it’s largely immaterial to the work of many researchers. This can lead to a misunderstanding of what skills are necessary to succeed in research environments. Getting involved with research is daunting enough without confusion about the skill set required. This past summer, when I worked in public health research, I identified core skills that are critical, no matter what your research experience looks like.
This could be you working passionately on your funding proposal using the tips in this guide! Photo credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters.
After having discovered a potential funding opportunity, you might be reading the requirements for the application and find that you need to write a “research proposal” as a part of the application. This might be your first time writing a funding proposal. Here are a few tips to assist you in writing your funding proposal!
