PROPEL Communications - Send us your experiences!

In our first year there were 96 projects from 12 Departments. Over 400 students from 27+ Majors were accepted into projects. PROPEL will be raising money during this year’s hashtag #UMassGives campaign on April 29 and 30. We hope to use this money towards creating new research projects that students can participate in and funding mentor-mentee lunches next year! Our “Power Hour” is from 12 - 1 p.m. on April 29! If we receive the greatest number of gifts during that hour, we will win an additional $2000, or $500 for second place.

PROPEL Research Fellow Sophia Deligiannidis’ work on improving accessibility for undergraduate researchers has selected for the spotlight during the UMass Digital Equity and Inclusion Week (DEIW) 2025.

Graduate student and postdoc PROPEL mentors you should add a statement about your research project to your resume. Here is an example

Mentor for Undergraduate PROPEL Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Spring 2025

Come get professional help in your application to PROPEL projects! 

Where: Morrill II 337 

When: Wednesday, Nov 20th from 12-1 pm

Join us for a panel with UMass principal investigators (PIs) as they share what they look for in undergraduate applicants! This is OPEN TO ALL MAJORS
November 18th, 2024
ILC S140 | 5:30 PM

Inside UMass Newsletter - PROPEL Provides Mentors Access to Diverse Pool of Aspiring Undergraduate Researchers 

The Muser Drupal development team has worked hard this summer on several new features that impact both mentors and students.

Project Auto-Recommendations

When students favorite a project during the application period of the round, five more active projects will be suggested in a pop-up at the bottom of the screen. These recommendations are based on the academic topic(s) of the original favorited project, and they will refresh every time the student favorites a new project.

Mentor Dr. Hailong Yang feels research is innate in humans. We are driven by curiosity to understand how and why things work from different perspectives regardless of background and disciplines. Dr. Yang wants to nurture this quality into the next generation of researchers at UMass and the PROPEL program allowed him to interact and work with students at a deeper level. Dr.

The Biology Undergraduate Apprenticeship (BUA) program is being expanded to serve all STEM disciplines through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Award to the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Thanks Elizabeth Connor!). To reflect the new broader mission the BUA program was renamed PROPEL (Promoting Research Opportunities for Equity in Learning). We look forward to working with mentors and students from many different departments. As in the past any mentor or any student from any department on campus can post and apply to projects.

PROPEL team members Jeffrey Blanchard (biology), Paula Rees (civil and environmental engineering), Lori Astheimer (psychological and brain sciences), Syde Orange (student success and diversity), along with Madelaine Bartlett (biology), Lisa Depiano (Stockbridge), Martin Hunter (biomedical engineering), Ashish Kulkarni (chemical engineering), Emily Kumpel (civil and environmental engineering), Ruthanne Paradise (chemistry), Brenda Philips (electrical and computer engineering), Shannon Roberts (mechanical and industrial engineering), & Lisa Sanders (psychological and brain sciences) recie