Welcome to the 2026 UROP Spring Research Symposium.
This year’s theme—The Resilient Mind: Critical Inquiry, Adaptability, and the Evolution of Human Understanding—captures something both timeless and urgently contemporary about research. At its best, research is not simply the pursuit of answers; it is the disciplined practice of learning how to think when answers are incomplete, contested, or still taking shape. The resilient mind is built in those moments: when a hypothesis fails, when a method must be revised, when an unexpected result asks us to slow down and listen more carefully to what the evidence is actually saying.
Critical inquiry begins with curiosity, but it is sustained by rigor and humility. It asks us to read closely, to question assumptions (including our own), to distinguish what we wish were true from what we can support, and to remain open to complexity. Whether today’s projects draw from archives, laboratories, studios, field sites, clinics, or computational models, they share a common commitment: the willingness to test ideas against reality—and to be changed by what we find.
Adaptability is often described as a skill, but in research it is also an ethic. It means responding to new information with care rather than defensiveness, and making decisions that protect integrity even when the path becomes harder. Adaptability may look like rethinking a research question midstream, learning an unfamiliar tool, revising a codebook, rebuilding an experimental setup, or finding a new frame for interpreting data. It may also look like navigating the human dimensions of scholarship: collaborating across differences, communicating clearly, and persevering through uncertainty. The capacity to adapt—intellectually and personally—is not separate from the production of knowledge; it is part of how knowledge grows.
And that growth is the evolution of human understanding. Each poster, oral presentation, performance, or paper contributes to a larger conversation that spans disciplines and generations. Undergraduate research is powerful precisely because it brings fresh eyes to enduring questions. It expands what is thinkable. It reminds the university that discovery is not reserved for those far along in their careers; it is a shared responsibility and a shared privilege.
At the center of this symposium is a relationship that makes resilient thinking possible: the partnership between research mentors and undergraduate researchers. Mentoring is sometimes imagined as a one-way transfer of expertise. In practice, the most meaningful mentoring is collaborative: a dynamic exchange shaped by trust, high expectations, and mutual respect. Mentors offer more than technical instruction. They model how scholars handle uncertainty—how they ask better questions, critique ideas without diminishing people, and persist when progress feels slow. They demonstrate that revision is not failure; it is the work. They help students see the standards of a field while also encouraging them to challenge and expand those standards thoughtfully.
Undergraduate researchers, in turn, bring energy, creativity, and a willingness to ask the questions that others may have stopped noticing. They often surface assumptions that a lab, team, or discipline has carried for years. They strengthen research communities by learning actively, and reminding us that the future of inquiry depends on who is welcomed into it—and how we support them once they arrive.
The resilient mind is not built alone. It develops in environments where students can take intellectual risks without fear of being reduced to their mistakes; where feedback is specific and kind; where expectations are clear; where setbacks are treated as information; and where the dignity of every learner is protected. It is strengthened when mentors make room for students to own a piece of the work, to make real decisions, and to see themselves as capable contributors rather than temporary assistants. It is strengthened when students learn to seek help early, document their work carefully, communicate honestly, and practice the patience that real discovery requires.
Thank you to the research mentors who invest time, expertise, and care; to the students who bring courage and commitment to the work; and to the broader UROP community that makes these partnerships possible. May this symposium reflect the best of what research can be: a collective endeavor that helps us understand the world more accurately, more ethically, and more fully—and that helps each of us become the kind of thinker who can meet complexity with clarity, creativity, and resolve.
Sincerely,
Michelle D. Ferrez, Ed.D. D
Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Research & Student Success
Senior Director, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program
Symposium Schedule
The 2026 UROP Annual Spring Research Symposium will be held at the Michigan League. Poster presentations will take place in the League’s Ballroom and Vandenburg Room on the second floor. Oral presentations will be held in the Koessler and Henderson Rooms on the third floor, and creative projects will be located in the Michigan Room on the second floor.
| Session No. | Session Time |
| Session 1 | 9:00 AM – 9:50 AM |
| Session 2 | 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM |
| Session 3 | 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM |
| Break | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM |
| Session 4 | 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM |
| Session 5 | 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM |
| Session 6 | 3:00 PM – 3:50 PM |
| Session 7 | 4:00 PM – 4:50 PM |
UROP Donors
The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program receives its operating budget from the University of Michigan’s General Fund. Gifts from private donors and corporate foundations support summer fellowships, grants to students with financial need, student travel to conferences to present research, and mentor awards. We would like to thank our following donors.
| Aaron, P | Ahl Family | Bendit Family |
| Braunstein, S. | Carlebach, D. & S. | Edsall Family |
| Eleanor Clay Foundation | Ford Motor Company | Ford, R. & K. |
| Genentech Foundation | Giordani, A. | Goldberg, R. |
| Halsted, T. | HIllard, F. | Kalish, D. |
| Lowrie III Estate | Luongo, D. | Madden, L |
| McNeil, L. | Muglia, R.L | Muscat, M |
| National Science Foundation (NSF), Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) | Neary, R. & D. | Redlich-Horwitz, C. |
| Rieker, M. | Robinson Family | Rosen, T. |
| Ryle, P | Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) | The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
| The Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation | Vasquez-Heilig, J. | Zbrozek, C. |
UROP Staff
Michelle D. Ferrez, Ed.D. – Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Research & Student Success Senior Director, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program
Raúl Gámez, Ph.D. – Associate Director of Mentor Engagement
Emily Edgerton, Ed.D. – Associate Director of Curriculum and Retention
Ray Wang, M.F.A. – Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Research
Sofia Bento, Ph.D – Sr. Academic Program Manager for Advanced Research, Leadership, and Post-Baccalaureate Research Programs
Charmise L. Knox, M.A. – Academic Program Manager
Julie Catanzarite, M.Ed – Academic Program Manager for Transfer Student Initiatives
Cyndy Kayden – Accounting Clerk Senior
Marcus Collins – Events and Communications Coordinator
Jamie Lee – Student Services Administrative Assistant
Diana Saldana-Arbas – Student Administrative Assistant Associate
University of Michigan Board of Regents
Jordan B. Acker, Huntington Woods
Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc
Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor
Paul W. Brown, Ann Arbor
Sarah Hubbard, Lansing
Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms
Carl J. Meyers, Dearborn
Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor
